ESPN reveals tipoff times, TV details for loaded 2026 SEC/ACC Challenge
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ESPN gave SEC and ACC basketball fans a big treat on a Monday morning in September.
The network released the tipoff times and TV designations for what promises to be another epic men’s and women’s SEC/ACC Challenge. The 4th annual installment of the clash of the 2 leagues in basketball will take place in its usual spot on the calendar in early December.
The men’s challenge will take place on Dec. 1 and 2, with the women’s challenge overlapping on Dec. 2 and 3. That means there will be 3 straight intense nights of basketball between the Power 4 leagues, with juicy matchups all over the place in all 3 nights.
On the men’s side, the matchup that really stands out is the rematch between powerhouses Florida and Duke, who played a down-to-the-wire game last season that was won by the Blue Devils in Durham. Duke prevailed, 67-66, in the matchup of ranked teams that was also a showdown featuring a Florida team that was the defending national champion.
Almost exactly a year later, the Gators will get a chance at payback when they host Duke this time on Dec. 1 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, so the showdown of college basketball powers will get the royal treatment in the primetime late slot on the 1st night of the SEC/ACC Challenge.
The Tuesday night slate on Dec. 1 will feature 11 men’s games, with the other 5 matchups taking place on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Highlighting the 2nd night of the men’s slate will be Kentucky traveling to Virginia for a 7:15 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN.
While the men’s slate of games is frontloaded on the 1st night, the women’s slate is backloaded, with 6 matchups on the 1st night on Dec. 2, followed by 10 showdowns on the 2nd night on Dec. 3.
Here is how the showdowns break down, with tip times and TV details to go with it:
Long after the SEC/ACC Challenge concludes, the teams from both conferences will be competing to get to the Final Four next April. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the best odds to be playing for a national championship next spring:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
