IRVING, Texas — The Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences announced the pairings for the 2023 SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Thursday morning. Texas will travel to Knoxville to face Tennessee in Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday, Jan. 28. Television designations and game times will be announced when available.
The 10th annual event will consist of 10 games, as every Big 12 member will participate against 10 squads from the SEC. This marks the eighth consecutive year that all games in the Challenge will be played on one day. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 10 contests. Each conference has five home games and five on the road.
Texas owns a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools. In the first matchup (Dec. 18, 1952), the Volunteers registered a 66-59 win in Knoxville. The Longhorns posted a 77-73 victory in Little Rock, Ark. on Dec. 21, 1960 and added a 95-70 win in the third-place game at the EA Sports Maui Invitational (Maui, Hawaii) on Nov. 24, 2004. Tennessee recorded a 95-78 victory in Austin (Dec. 17, 2005), and the Volunteers also registered a 111-105 overtime win in Knoxville on Dec. 23, 2006. Texas claimed a 97-78 victory in the championship game of the StubHub! Legends Classic in Newark, N.J. on Nov. 24, 2007. The Longhorns earned a 52-51 win over No. 18/20 Tennessee last year in Austin on Jan. 29, 2022.
Big 12 teams are 48-41 (.539) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Big 12 has a yearly Challenge record of 4-3-2 with wins in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. One game was canceled in 2021 due to COVID. Ties occurred in 2017 and 2020.
Texas has registered a 4-4 mark in its previous eight Challenge appearances. UT posted a 70-64 victory against Vanderbilt in Austin on Dec. 2, 2013, then fell at No. 1/1 Kentucky 63-51 on Dec. 5, 2014. Texas recorded a 72-58 home win against Vanderbilt on Jan. 30, 2016, then lost at Georgia 59-57 on Jan. 28, 2017. The Longhorns registered an 85-72 home victory against Ole Miss, before falling at Georgia 98-88 on Jan. 26, 2019.
Texas dropped a 69-67 decision to LSU in Austin on Jan. 25, 2020. The Longhorns were scheduled to play at Kentucky during the 2020-21 season, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Kentucky program. Texas then claimed a 52-51 home victory against No. 18/20 Tennessee last year in Austin.
2023 SEC/Big 12 Challenge Pairings (Saturday, Jan. 28)
Arkansas at Baylor
Kansas at Kentucky
TEXAS at Tennessee
TCU at Mississippi State
Alabama at Oklahoma
Auburn at West Virginia
Ole Miss at Oklahoma State
Florida at Kansas State
Iowa State at Missouri
Texas Tech at LSU
