Matchups for the 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge were announced Thursday, and Tennessee is slated to visit Kansas on Saturday, Jan. 25.
The high-profile showdown serves as a rematch of last season’s top-five clash in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game, which the second-ranked Jayhawks won in overtime.
Other challenge matchups set for Jan. 25 are: Kansas State at Alabama, TCU at Arkansas, Iowa State at Auburn, Baylor at Florida, Kentucky at Texas Tech, LSU at Texas, Mississippi State at Oklahoma, Missouri at West Virginia and Oklahoma State at Texas A&M.
“The Big 12/SEC Challenge is a unique opportunity to showcase our basketball programs,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. “Playing the event on a single-date in January puts our programs in the college basketball spotlight.”
All 10 games will air across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU and will be available on the ESPN app. ESPN’s College GameDay Covered by State Farm–the Saturday roadshow that discusses the top storylines of the college basketball season–will originate from one of the challenge sites.
At historic Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks enjoy one of the nation’s most daunting homecourt advantages. Kansas owns a 234-13 (.947) home record under longtime head coach Bill Self, who boasts more conference titles (14) than home losses (13) at KU.
Tennessee owns a 1-3 all-time record vs. Kansas, dating to 2009. That first-ever meeting took place at Allen Fieldhouse, with KU claiming a 92-85 victory. The Vols avenged that loss the following season by upsetting the top-ranked Jayhawks in Knoxville on Jan. 10, 2010. The four previous meetings have been decided by an average of nine points.
Tennessee’s all-time record against current members of the Big 12 stands at 14-17. Fifth-year UT head coach Rick Barnes—who spent 17 seasons coaching in the Big 12 before transitioning to Knoxville—owns a 160-94 record against current Big 12 teams and has led his teams to seven wins over Kansas. Barnes’ Texas squad posted a 74-63 win at Allen Fieldhouse in 2011.
The 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge marks the event’s seventh year. Tennessee is 4-1 in the event, as the Vols did not take part in the inaugural challenge. Four of the SEC’s 14 teams are idle during the challenge each year because there are only 10 teams in the Big 12.
The Big 12 won the challenge in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The SEC claimed its lone win in 2018, and the series was tied in 2017. The Big 12 has a cumulative advantage of 35-25 (.583).
Tennessee’s 2019-20 non-conference schedule now features contests against Florida State, Purdue or VCU, Memphis, Cincinnati, Wisconsin and Kansas.
