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.
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. The SEC proceeded to establish a new series with the Big 12 Conference called the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
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.
Southeastern Conference (15–25) Team Won LossAlabama Crimson Tide03Arkansas Razorbacks12Auburn Tigers04Florida Gators12Georgia Bulldogs03Kentucky Wildcats31LSU Tigers21Missouri Tigers00Mississippi State Bulldogs22Ole Miss Rebels21South Carolina Gamecocks12Tennessee Volunteers22Texas A&M Aggies00Vanderbilt Commodores12Overall1525
Big East Conference (25–15) Team Won LossCincinnati Bearcats30Connecticut Huskies11DePaul Blue Demons12Georgetown Hoyas30Louisville Cardinals20Marquette Golden Eagles02Notre Dame Fighting Irish11Pittsburgh Panthers11Providence Friars21Rutgers Scarlet Knights12Seton Hall Pirates12St. John's Red Storm21Syracuse Orange30South Florida Bulls11Villanova Wildcats20West Virginia Mountaineers 1 1Overall2515
Results
2007 Big East 3-1 DateSEC teamBig East teamLocationTelevisionAttendanceWinnerConferenceLeader December 5Alabama#4 GeorgetownBJCC Arena (Birmingham, Alabama)ESPNGeorgetown, 70–60Big East (1–0)AuburnWest VirginiaESPN210,481West Virginia, 88–59Big East (2–0)December 6South CarolinaProvidenceWachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)ESPN2South Carolina, 68–67Big East (2–1)LSU#21 VillanovaESPNVillanova, 68–67Big East (3–1)
2008 Tie 2-2 DateSEC teamBig East teamLocationTelevisionAttendanceWinnerConferenceLeader December 16VanderbiltSouth FloridaSommet Center (Nashville, Tennessee)ESPN2Vanderbilt, 71–52 SEC (1–0)#19 Tennessee#23 MarquetteESPNTennessee, 80–68SEC (2–0) December 18Mississippi StateCincinnatiU.S. Bank Arena (Cincinnati, Ohio)ESPN2Cincinnati, 75–63SEC (2–1)Ole Miss#9 LouisvilleESPN9,522Louisville, 77–68Tied (2–2)
2009 Tie 2-2 DateSEC teamBig East teamLocationTelevisionAttendanceWinnerConferenceLeader December 9GeorgiaSt. John'sMadison Square Garden (New York City, New York)ESPN2St. John's, 66–56Big East (1–0)#4 Kentucky#12 ConnecticutESPN15,874Kentucky, 64–61Tied (1–1) December 10Mississippi StateDePaulSt. Pete Times Forum (Tampa, Florida) ESPN2Mississippi State, 76–45SEC (2–1)#11 Florida#6 SyracuseESPN9,353Syracuse, 85–73Tied (2–2)
2010 SEC 3-1 DateSEC teamBig East teamLocationTelevisionAttendanceWinnerConferenceLeaderDecember 8ArkansasSeton HallFreedom Hall (Louisville, Kentucky)ESPN2Arkansas, 71–62SEC (1–0)#16 Kentucky#23 Notre DameESPNKentucky, 72–58SEC (2–0)December 11AuburnRutgersCONSOL Energy Center, (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ESPN2Rutgers, 63–54SEC (2–1)#13 Tennessee#3 PittsburghESPN15,166 Tennessee, 83–76 SEC (3–1)
2011 Big East 8-4 DateTimeBig East teamSEC teamLocationTelevisionAttendanceWinnerChallengeLeader Thurs., Dec. 1 7:00 PM Providence South Carolina Colonial Life Arena • Columbia, South CarolinaESPNU 7,476 Providence, 76–67 Big East (1–0) 7:30 PM St. John's #1 Kentucky Rupp Arena • Lexington, Kentucky ESPN2 24,119 Kentucky, 81–59 Tie (1–1) 9:00 PM DePaul Ole Miss Allstate Arena • Rosemont, Illinois ESPNU 7,129 Ole Miss, 70–68 SEC (2–1) 9:30 PM Georgetown #12 Alabama Coleman Coliseum • Tuscaloosa, Alabama ESPN2 15,383 Georgetown, 57–55 Tie (2–2) Fri., Dec. 2 7:00 PM #3 Syracuse #9 Florida Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York ESPN 24,459 Syracuse, 72–68 Big East (3–2) 7:00 PM Cincinnati Georgia Stegeman Coliseum • Athens, Georgia ESPNU 6,796 Cincinnati, 57–51 Big East (4–2) 9:00 PM #6 Louisville #19 Vanderbilt KFC Yum! Center • Louisville, Kentucky ESPN 22,728 Louisville, 62–60 OT Big East (5–2) 9:00 PM Seton Hall Auburn Prudential Center • Newark, New Jersey ESPNU 6,591 Seton Hall, 81–59 Big East (6–2) Sat., Dec. 3 3:15 PM #10 Connecticut Arkansas XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut ESPN 14,333 Connecticut, 75–62 Big East (7–2) 5:15 PM #17 Pittsburgh Tennessee Thompson–Boling Arena • Knoxville, Tennessee ESPN 17,249 Pittsburgh, 61–56 Big East (8–2) 7:00 PM Rutgers LSU Louis Brown Athletic Center • Piscataway, New Jersey ESPNU 5,534 LSU, 55–50 Big East (8–3) 9:00 PM West Virginia #21 Mississippi State Humphrey Coliseum • Starkville, MississippiESPNU 7,529 Mississippi State, 75–62 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 Big East 9-3 DateTimeBig East TeamSEC TeamLocationTelevisionAttendanceWinnerChallengeLeader 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