SEC–Big East Challenge

The SEC–Big East Challenge was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series, matching up teams from the Southeastern Conference and the original Big East Conference. The event, which was held each season from 2007 to 2012, took place in early December each year, before the start of conference play.

SEC–Big East Challenge
ConferenceBig East Conference
Southeastern Conference
LeagueNCAA Division I
Founded2007
Ceased2012
Sports fielded
Last
champion(s)		Big East Conference
Most titlesBig East Conference (3)
TV partner(s)ESPN

The original six-year contract for the series expired in 2013 and was not renewed. This was likely an effect of the 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment, which resulted in the members of the original Big East splitting up into the football-sponsoring American Athletic Conference (marketed as "The American" and the legal successor to the original Big East) and a new, non-football Big East Conference in the summer of 2013.[1] The SEC proceeded to establish a new series with the Big 12 Conference called the Big 12/SEC Challenge.[2]

Format

Initially, each annual series included four games featuring four teams from each conference. The games were held as two double-headers in two different, typically off-campus, sites. Though most of the sites were not home arenas for the teams featured in the event, many were in the same cities as one of the participants. Madison Square Garden in New York City hosted a double-header in 2009 that featured the St. John's Red Storm, who use the Garden as their home arena for some games. In 2010, two games were held at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, which served as the Louisville Cardinals' home arena until the KFC Yum! Center opened for the 2010–11 season. Other venues were occasional home venues for invitational participants. Villanova occasionally plays at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where they participated in the first year of the Invitational in 2007 (when the venue was known as Wachovia Center). Pittsburgh occasionally hosts games in the Consol Energy Center since it opened in 2010, where they played in the invitational in December of that year.

Starting with the 2011–12 season, the format was changed to allow every SEC team to participate along with an equal number of Big East teams. This format featured 12 games over three days beginning on the Thursday after Thanksgiving of each year. The locations of the games were also changed; they were played at home campus sites with each conference hosting six games a year.

For the 2012 challenge, the SEC's new members Missouri and Texas A&M did not participate, while the departure of West Virginia from the Big East before the 2012–2013 season meant that only three Big East teams were excluded instead of four.

Team records

In the inaugural series in 2007, the Big East won three games to the SEC's one. The two conferences tied, with each team winning two games, in 2008 and 2009. In the 2010 series, the SEC won for the first time, three games to one. In the 2011 series, the first year with 12 games, the Big East won eight games to four. In 2012, the Big East won nine games to three.

Results

2007
Date SEC team Big East team Location Television Attendance Winner Conference
Leader
December 5 Alabama #4 Georgetown BJCC Arena (Birmingham, Alabama) ESPN Georgetown, 70–60[3] Big East (1–0)
Auburn West Virginia ESPN2 10,481 West Virginia, 88–59[4] Big East (2–0)
December 6 South Carolina Providence Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) ESPN2 South Carolina, 68–67[5] Big East (2–1)
LSU #21 Villanova ESPN Villanova, 68–67[6] Big East (3–1)

2008
Date SEC team Big East team Location Television Attendance Winner Conference
Leader
December 16 Vanderbilt South Florida Sommet Center (Nashville, Tennessee) ESPN2 Vanderbilt, 71–52[7] SEC (1–0)
#19 Tennessee #23 Marquette ESPN Tennessee, 80–68[8] SEC (2–0)
December 18 Mississippi State Cincinnati U.S. Bank Arena (Cincinnati, Ohio) ESPN2 Cincinnati, 75–63[9] SEC (2–1)
Ole Miss #9 Louisville ESPN 9,522 Louisville, 77–68[10] Tied (2–2)

2009
Date SEC team Big East team Location Television Attendance Winner Conference
Leader
December 9 Georgia St. John's Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York) ESPN2 St. John's, 66–56[11] Big East (1–0)
#4 Kentucky #12 Connecticut ESPN 15,874 Kentucky, 64–61[12] Tied (1–1)
December 10 Mississippi State DePaul St. Pete Times Forum (Tampa, Florida) ESPN2 Mississippi State, 76–45[13] SEC (2–1)
#11 Florida #6 Syracuse ESPN 9,353 Syracuse, 85–73[14] Tied (2–2)

2010
Date SEC team Big East team Location Television Attendance Winner Conference
Leader
December 8 Arkansas Seton Hall Freedom Hall (Louisville, Kentucky) ESPN2 Arkansas, 71–62[15] SEC (1–0)
#16 Kentucky #23 Notre Dame ESPN Kentucky, 72–58[16] SEC (2–0)
December 11 Auburn Rutgers CONSOL Energy Center, (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ESPN2 Rutgers, 63–54[17] SEC (2–1)
#13 Tennessee #3 Pittsburgh ESPN 15,166 Tennessee, 83–76 [18] SEC (3–1)

2011
Date Time Big East team SEC team Location Television Attendance Winner Challenge
Leader
Thurs., Dec. 1 7:00 PM Providence South Carolina Colonial Life Arena • Columbia, South Carolina ESPNU 7,476 Providence, 76–67[19] Big East (1–0)
7:30 PM St. John's #1 Kentucky Rupp Arena • Lexington, Kentucky ESPN2 24,119 Kentucky, 81–59[20] Tie (1–1)
9:00 PM DePaul Ole Miss Allstate Arena • Rosemont, Illinois ESPNU 7,129 Ole Miss, 70–68[21] SEC (2–1)
9:30 PM Georgetown #12 Alabama Coleman Coliseum • Tuscaloosa, Alabama ESPN2 15,383 Georgetown, 57–55[22] Tie (2–2)
Fri., Dec. 2 7:00 PM #3 Syracuse #9 Florida Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York ESPN 24,459 Syracuse, 72–68[23] Big East (3–2)
7:00 PM Cincinnati Georgia Stegeman Coliseum • Athens, Georgia ESPNU 6,796 Cincinnati, 57–51[24] Big East (4–2)
9:00 PM #6 Louisville #19 Vanderbilt KFC Yum! Center • Louisville, Kentucky ESPN 22,728 Louisville, 62–60 OT[25] Big East (5–2)
9:00 PM Seton Hall Auburn Prudential Center • Newark, New Jersey ESPNU 6,591 Seton Hall, 81–59[26] Big East (6–2)
Sat., Dec. 3 3:15 PM #10 Connecticut Arkansas XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut ESPN 14,333 Connecticut, 75–62[27] Big East (7–2)
5:15 PM #17 Pittsburgh Tennessee Thompson–Boling Arena • Knoxville, Tennessee ESPN 17,249 Pittsburgh, 61–56[28] Big East (8–2)
7:00 PM Rutgers LSU Louis Brown Athletic Center • Piscataway, New Jersey ESPNU 5,534 LSU, 55–50[29] Big East (8–3)
9:00 PM West Virginia #21 Mississippi State Humphrey Coliseum • Starkville, Mississippi ESPNU 7,529 Mississippi State, 75–62 [30] Big East (8–4)
First year that the invitational featured 12 games – All times Eastern
Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova and South Florida did not participate for the Big East.

2012
Date Time Big East Team SEC Team Location Television Attendance Winner Challenge
Leader
Thurs, Nov. 29 7:00 pm Notre Dame #8 Kentucky Edmund P. Joyce Center • South Bend, Indiana ESPN2 9,149 Notre Dame, 64–50 Big East (1–0)
7:30 pm St. John's South Carolina Carnesecca Arena • Queens, New York ESPNU 4,902 St. John's, 89–65 Big East (2–0)
9:00 pm Marquette #7 Florida O'Connell Center • Gainesville, Florida ESPN2 10,245 Florida, 82–49 Big East (2–1)
9:30 pm Seton Hall LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center • Baton Rouge, Louisiana ESPNU 7,295 LSU, 72–67 Tied (2–2)
Fri, Nov. 30 6:30 pm #20 Georgetown Tennessee Verizon Center • Washington, D.C. ESPN 13,656 Georgetown, 37–36 Big East (3–2)
7:00 pm South Florida Georgia USF Sun Dome • Tampa, Florida ESPNU 5,167 South Florida, 64–53 Big East (4–2)
8:30 pm #6 Syracuse Arkansas Bud Walton Arena • Fayetteville, Arkansas ESPN 19,259 Syracuse, 91–82 Big East (5–2)
9:00 pm DePaul Auburn Auburn Arena • Auburn, Alabama ESPNU 5,827 DePaul, 80–76 Big East (6–2)
Sat, Dec. 1 12:00 pm Providence Mississippi State Dunkin' Donuts Center • Providence, Rhode Island ESPNU 6,156 Providence, 73–63 Big East (7–2)
2:00 pm Rutgers Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum • University, Mississippi ESPNU 4,277 Ole Miss, 80–67 Big East (7–3)
3:00 pm #17 Cincinnati Alabama Fifth Third Arena • Cincinnati ESPN2 10,155 Cincinnati, 58–56 Big East (8–3)
5:00 pm Villanova Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, Tennessee ESPN2 9,365 Villanova, 62–52 Big East (9–3)
All times Eastern
Rankings from November 26 AP Poll.
#5 Louisville, Connecticut and Pittsburgh did not participate for the Big East, while Texas A&M and #16 Missouri did not participate for the SEC.

References
  1. "SEC-Big East Challenge ends, commissioner says". USA Today.
  2. "News Archives".
  3. "Georgetown vs. Alabama - Game Recap - December 5, 2007 - ESPN".
  4. "West Virginia vs. Auburn - Game Recap - December 5, 2007 - ESPN".
  5. "South Carolina vs. Providence - Game Recap - December 6, 2007 - ESPN".
  6. "LSU vs. Villanova - Game Recap - December 6, 2007 - ESPN".
  7. "South Florida vs. Vanderbilt - Game Recap - December 16, 2008 - ESPN".
  8. "Marquette vs. Tennessee - Game Recap - December 16, 2008 - ESPN".
  9. "Mississippi State vs. Cincinnati - Game Recap - December 18, 2008 - ESPN".
  10. "Ole Miss vs. Louisville - Game Recap - December 18, 2008 - ESPN".
  11. "Georgia vs. St. John's - Box Score - December 9, 2009 - ESPN".
  12. "Kentucky vs. UConn - Game Preview - December 9, 2009 - ESPN".
  13. "DePaul vs. Mississippi State - Game Recap - December 10, 2009 - ESPN".
  14. "Syracuse vs. Florida - Game Recap - December 10, 2009 - ESPN".
  15. "Seton Hall vs. Arkansas - Game Recap - December 8, 2010 - ESPN".
  16. "Notre Dame vs. Kentucky - Game Recap - December 8, 2010 - ESPN".
  17. "Auburn vs. Rutgers - Game Recap - December 11, 2010 - ESPN".
  18. "Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh - Game Recap - December 11, 2010 - ESPN".
  19. "Providence vs. South Carolina - Box Score - December 1, 2011 - ESPN".
  20. "St. John's vs. Kentucky - Box Score - December 1, 2011 - ESPN".
  21. "Ole Miss vs. DePaul - Game Recap - December 1, 2011 - ESPN".
  22. "Georgetown vs. Alabama - Game Recap - December 1, 2011 - ESPN".
  23. "Florida vs. Syracuse - Game Recap - December 2, 2011 - ESPN".
  24. "Cincinnati vs. Georgia - Game Recap - December 2, 2011 - ESPN".
  25. "Vanderbilt vs. Louisville - Game Recap - December 2, 2011 - ESPN".
  26. "Auburn vs. Seton Hall - Game Recap - December 2, 2011 - ESPN".
  27. "Arkansas vs. UConn - Game Recap - December 3, 2011 - ESPN".
  28. "Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee - Game Recap - December 3, 2011 - ESPN".
  29. "LSU vs. Rutgers - Game Recap - December 3, 2011 - ESPN".
  30. "West Virginia vs. Mississippi State - Game Recap - December 3, 2011 - ESPN".
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