WVU Release Pairings Revealed for 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge

[Patrick Kotnik]

Pairings Revealed for 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge

Pairings have been announced for the 2020 edition of the men’s basketball Big 12/SEC Challenge.

The seventh annual event will consist of 10 games played on Saturday, January 25, as every Big 12 member faces 10 squads from the Southeastern Conference. The leagues are coming off a season in which both featured a team in the Final Four as Texas Tech was the national runner-up while Auburn played in a national semifinal. Additionally, Texas captured the postseason NIT championship.

Half of the contests will showcase matchups in which both participants competed in the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship while nine will feature at least one team that advanced to a postseason tournament.

This will mark the fifth consecutive year for all games to be played in one day. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise the contests with ESPN’s College GameDay originating from one of the sites.

Big 12 teams are 35-25 (.583) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge after a 6-4 advantage in 2019. The Big 12 has a yearly Challenge record of 4-1-1 with wins in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The tie occurred in 2017(in case of a tie, the trophy stays with the conference that won it the previous season).

2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge – Saturday, January 25

(Number in parenthesis is the Big 12 team record in the Challenge)

Baylor (5-1) at Florida

- Series record tied at 1-1 with UF winning in a 2018 Challenge matchup. Both 2019 NCAA tournament participants.

Iowa State (3-3) at Auburn

- ISU has won two consecutive in a 2-1 series with the last game in 2013. Both competed in the 2019 NCAA tournament.

Tennesseeat Kansas (4-2)

- KU leads the series 3-1, including an 87-81 OT win in the Preseason NIT championship game last season. Both were 2019 NCAA Tournament teams.

Kansas State (3-3) at Alabama

- K-State leads 2-1 with wins in the last two games in 2009 and 2011. K-State played in the 2019 NCAA Championship while Alabama was in the NIT.

Mississippi State at Oklahoma (4-2)

- MSU holds a 3-0 series advantage. Both are 2019 NCAA tournament teams.

Oklahoma State (4-2) at Texas A&M

- OSU holds a 31-18 record with the last meeting a TAMU win in 2018.

TCU (4-2) at Arkansas

- UA has a 104-38 advantage with the last meeting in 1991. Both competed in the 2019 NIT.

LSU at Texas (3-3)

- LSU leads the series 19-11 with the last matchup in 2006-07. UT won the 2019 NIT title while LSU competed in the NCAA tournament.

Kentuckyat Texas Tech (4-2)

- UK leads the series 4-0 with the last matchup in 1994. Both played in the 2019 NCAA tournament.

Missouri at West Virginia (1-5)

- The series is tied at 2-2 with WVU winning the last meeting in 2017.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Pairings Revealed for 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge


2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge – Saturday, January 25

Kansas State (3-3) at Alabama

- K-State leads 2-1 with wins in the last two games in 2009 and 2011. K-State played in the 2019 NCAA Championship while Alabama was in the NIT.

Missouri at West Virginia (1-5)

- The series is tied at 2-2 with WVU winning the last meeting in 2017.

WVU only Big 12 team below .500

Kansas State played in 2019 NCAA championship? I thought it was Texas Tech?

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Pete Maravich's first game in college at LSU was played in Austin.

 

[WVUALLEN]

What's this have to do with Shaka Smart not being a good coach.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Interesting fact and I know both Pete and his Dad have connections to the state of West Virginia.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Who cares? The only freaking connection they had was with Carver. A kid That had just graduated from Elkins High School in Elkins, W.Va., and Maravich was looking to recruit him.

Learn shit before posting.

https://thetandd.com/sports/pistol-pete-connection/article_1beeb14d-f417-5bbb-ba36-da28e7682155.html

Pete Maravich, known by his nickname Pistol Pete. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised in the Carolinas. Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University.

Don Carver helped the authors with the new book about Pete Maravich. Carver coached Maravich when he played high school basketball in South Carolina.

Carver played for Pistol Pete's father. He coached the basketball phenom in high school in South Carolina. He's been close to the Maravich family ever since.

Carver's path first crossed with the Maravichs in 1956 when Pete's father Press Maravich took over the head coaching duties at then-Clemson College. Carver had just graduated from Elkins High School in Elkins, W.Va., and Maravich was looking to recruit him.

"He had just taken the position at Clemson," Carver said. "He told me he heard about my selection to West Virginia's all-state team and asked me to meet him."

At the meeting, Maravich invited Carver to fly down to Clemson to check out the school.

Carver had signed a letter of intent to West Virginia Institute of Technology and was set to be the top guy as soon as he stepped on campus.

"Tech led the nation in scoring in 1956, averaging 110 points per game," Carver said. "They had the number one scorer in the nation who was graduating, and I was promised to have his spot the next year."

Carver spent two weeks at Clemson playing pick-up games and checking out the campus. He would later accept a full basketball scholarship from Clemson. That's the first time he met Pete Maravich, then just 9 years old.

Carver would play three years for Press Maravich before opportunity started knocking again. One month before his graduation, Carver was approached by Pete Carlisle, head basketball coach at Daniel High School. Carlisle wanted Carver to take over the head coaching duties at Daniel. Carver put in an application and became the head coach in 1961.

"I loved coaching and teaching at Daniel High School," Carver said. "In 1961 we had two lettermen returning. One was junior Jim Sutherland and the other was ninth-grader Pete Maravich. We finished the season 9-9."

Carver would return his entire starting five from the '61 team, including Sutherland, now a senior, and 10th-grader Pete Maravich.

https://thetandd.com/sports/pistol-pete-connection/article_1beeb14d-f417-5bbb-ba36-da28e7682155.html

 

[Mystic Mountie]

We seem to play Missouri a lot?

 

[WVUALLEN]

We seem to play Missouri a lot?

WVU 2-2 vs Missouri

This will be the 2nd time they have met in SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The 1st was at Missouri and this one will be at the Coliseum.

The other 3 games...
Nov. 26, 2017 in the Lake Buena Vista, Fl. Premiere Tournament - W
Mar 21, 2010 in NCAA 1st round of NCAA - W
Mar 19, 1992 in NCAA 1st round of NCAA = L

Doesn't seem like a lot to me.