Goodbye, Big Ten. Hello, SEC.
This week's ACC/Big Ten Challenge will be the last, ESPN announced Monday in a joint release with the ACC and SEC, with the new ACC/SEC Challenge to take its place for men's and women's basketball beginning in the 2023-24 season. The news brings to an end a post-Thanksgiving partnership of 23 years between the ACC and Big Ten, while the younger SEC/Big 12 Challenge also draws to a close after its 10th chapter this week.
“The future ACC/SEC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Challenges will be outstanding events for our student-athletes, member institutions and fans,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in Monday's release, commenting alongside ESPN vice president for programming Nick Dawson and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “The SEC, led by Greg Sankey, and our partners at ESPN have been terrific, and there’s great excitement for the first annual ACC/SEC Challenge next season. As part of this announcement, we’d like to acknowledge the Big Ten for its partnership on the ACC/B1G Challenge that spanned more than 20 years.”
Duke teams have found plenty of success at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge over the years. On the men's side, the Blue Devils lead both conferences with a 19-4 record, while the Duke women sit fourth in win percentage at the event with an 11-3 record.
On Wednesday, the eighth-ranked Blue Devil men host Ohio State in the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge at 7:15 p.m. The Blue Devil women follow suit Thursday at home against Northwestern at 5 p.m.
Game dates and tipoff times for the inaugural event in 2023-24 will be announced at a later date.
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Jonathan Levitan is a Trinity senior and was previously sports editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.