KU, Tennessee paired up in 2021 SEC/Big 12 Challenge

By Matt Tait     Oct 21, 2020
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Kansas guard Marcus Garrett (0) floats in for a bucket past Tennessee guard Davonte Gaines (0) during the first half, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2019 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Rock Chalk will head to Rocky Top in 2021, when the Kansas men’s basketball program travels to Tennessee to take on the Volunteers in the 2021 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

While the rest of the Kansas men’s basketball program’s 2020-21 schedule remains a work in progress, ESPN on Wednesday released the matchups for this season’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Included in it was a Jan. 30 game between KU and Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.

The nine other Big 12 teams also will face SEC foes on that day, as the two conferences are showcased on ESPN from late morning well into the night. Tip times have not yet been announced.

Tennessee is expected to open the 2020-21 season ranked in the Top 15 of most national polls. ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello had the Vols at No. 10 in his most recent preseason poll, updated on Aug. 12.

The upcoming season will mark the third straight that the two teams have played each other, with KU defeating UT, 87-82 in overtime in the title game of the 2018 NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y. and KU winning last year’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge, 74-68.

Kansas owns a 4-1 all-time series advantage with Tennessee and the Jayhawks have won the last three meetings with the Volunteers, including last season’s meeting at Allen Fieldhouse.

This season will mark the eighth year for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and the sixth in a row in which all 10 games in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge will take place in one day. The Big 12 holds a 4-1-2 record in the series and leads 40-30 overall in the Challenge’s games.

KU is 5-2 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, having split with Florida in 2013-14 and 2014-15, before sweeping a home-and-home series with Kentucky in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Kansas defeated Texas A&M, 79-68, at Allen Fieldhouse, and in 2019 the Jayhawks lost at Kentucky, 71-63.

SEC/Big 12 Challenge Matchups
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Kansas at Tennessee

Auburn at Baylor

Iowa State at Mississippi State

Texas A&M at Kansas State

Alabama at Oklahoma

Arkansas at Oklahoma State

TCU at Missouri

Texas at Kentucky

Texas Tech at LSU

Florida at West Virginia

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.