Bragging rights and conference superiority are on the line in this year's Big 12/SEC Challenge
Mark Fox downplayed the notion that the weekend’s Big 12/SEC Challenge will decide the better conference.
At the same time, if the SEC wins more games than the Big 12, you’ll likely hear Fox, his fellow conference coaches and league commissioner Greg Sankey laud it as an accomplishment. After all, the SEC hasn’t defeated the Big 12 in the history of the yearly battle, which started in the 2013-14 season.
Last year, however, did serve as a turning point when the SEC and the Big 12 tied at five games apiece. The Big 12 won the first three challenges.
Since the conferences don’t have the same number of the teams, Georgia has only competed in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge twice. The Bulldogs defeated Texas last year and lost to Baylor the year before.
But Georgia, along with its conference brethren, has a great chance to prove the SEC's strength. The SEC has received more praise this year than in the past. At the present time, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has eight SEC teams positioned into his predicted NCAA Tournament field.
As for the Big 12, Lunardi has seven teams in for the time being. Given the timing of this year’s Big 12/SEC Challenge, it is easy to see why this could be set up for bragging rights.
“I think that’s a little overblown, to be honest with you,” Fox said. “We’re playing the games in January so it’s portrayed maybe to get more publicity as this determining which league is better. I’m not sure I think that’s the best way to determine that. If we obviously win more games than they do, we’ll sell it like we probably should.”
Georgia (12-7) has more to gain with a win than most teams in the SEC. The Bulldogs, one of Lunardi’s “Next Four Out” teams, could use a win to get back into the immediate bubble conversation. Kansas State (15-5) is trending in the other direction with three consecutive wins, including victories over Oklahoma and TCU.
While Kansas State isn’t a top-50 team, it very well could be by the end of the season. For Georgia not to further slide off of the bubble, it needs this win to go with the four top-50 wins it owns at the moment.
While Georgia is in the most precarious situation, other SEC teams could use a boost.
Texas A&M began the year with a couple of early wins and climbed into the top-10. The Aggies, however, have been mired in a month-long slump and could use a huge win over Kansas. Alabama is safely in the field for now but could improve its seeding with a win over Oklahoma. South Carolina could move onto the bubble with a win over Texas Tech, considering the Gamecocks have beaten Kentucky and Florida in two of their last three games.
“At the end of the day you’ve got two great conferences and a lot of really, really good teams that are playing a non-conference game,” Fox said. “It’s going to be great competition. Obviously, our hope is that our league will win our share of those games but we’ve got a great conference as do they, and hopefully it’ll strengthen the reputation of both of ours.”
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Big 12/SEC Challenge schedule
No. 14 Texas Tech at South Carolina (ESPN2, noon)
Baylor at No. 20 Florida (ESPN, noon)
Ole Miss at Texas (ESPN2, 2 p.m.)
Georgia at Kansas State (ESPNU, 2 p.m.)
No. 12 Oklahoma at Alabama (ESPN, 2:15 p.m.)
No. 22 Tennessee at Iowa State (ESPNU, 4 p.m.)
TCU at Vanderbilt (ESPN2, 4 p.m.)
Texas A&M at No. 5 Kansas (ESPN, 4:30 p.m.)
Oklahoma State at Arkansas (ESPN2, 6 p.m.)
Kentucky at No. 7 West Virginia (ESPN, 7 p.m.)
This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Bragging rights and conference superiority are on the line in this year's Big 12/SEC Challenge."