Big 12/SEC Basketball Challenge Will Conclude Before BYU Joins
Nov 30, 2022, 2:28 PM
The Big 12/SEC Challenge will come to a close after the 2022-23 season. One year before BYU joins the conference. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Big 12 versus SEC basketball challenge will conclude after the 2022-23 season.
ESPN announced that the out-of-conference January tilt between two of the top conferences in college hoops is coming to a close after this season. The reason is to make way for the SEC vs. ACC Challenge that begins in 2023-24.
ESPN, @theACC & @SEC announce the formation of ACC/SEC men's & women's basketball challenges
🏀 14 #NCAAMBB games & 14 #NCAAWBB games to debut in the '23-'24 season
🏀 Each of the 28 games (30 starting in '25-'26) will be carried on an ESPN platform🔗 https://t.co/b2PmcBrcms pic.twitter.com/67NRNaaugg
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) November 28, 2022
ESPN is the exclusive broadcast partner of the ACC and will become the lone provider of SEC content beginning in 2023-24.
The Big 12 welcomes BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston into the league next season.
Could the Big 12 create a challenge with the Big Ten?
It was reported in October that the Big 12 Conference signed a new media rights extension with FOX and ESPN. When the new media rights start in 2025, FOX will have rights to Big 12 basketball games.
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This could mean the Big 12 and the Big Ten, which also has basketball games on FOX properties, could stage a challenge of their own in the future. Former FOX executive Bob Thompson pitched that idea on his personal Twitter account.
“With Fox having B1G bball rights and Big XII bball rights (in a couple of years) look for them to put together a new challenge series between the two. Big XII is arguably better basketball than ACC across the entire conference,” tweeted Thompson.
The Big Ten’s power conference challenge with the ACC is coming to a close after this week. After this year, the Big Ten Conference will have none of its sports on ESPN networks.
The Big 12 also has an out-of-conference scheduling agreement with the Big East Conference that concludes after this season. Like the Big Ten, Big East plays basketball games on FOX television properties.
BYU joins the conference for the 2023-24 academic year
When BYU joins the Big 12 Conference for the 2023-24 season. The league expects to play an 18-game schedule with Texas and Oklahoma for the first two years. When the Longhorns and Sooners leave for the SEC, it’s still to be determined the number of league games.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch and his BYU basketball coverage on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
