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The matchups for the third edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge were unveiled on Wednesday, according to CBS Sports' college basketball insider Jon Rothstein. Sixteen mouthwatering clashes are taking center stage in the basketball showcase.
Thirty-two of the 34 teams are slated to see action in both conferences, with the much-improved ACC looking to reverse the tide following a 14-2 massacre by their SEC foes last season.
Clemson and Duke, the ACC teams that won last season, are back and face tougher challenges. The Tigers will visit the Alabama Crimson Tide in a rematch of their 2023 showdown, while the Blue Devils host reigning champion Florida in a showdown of two programs that made the Final Four last season.
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2025 ACC/SEC Challenge matchups
Here are the three takeaways from Wednesday's release of the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge schedule.
Top three takeaways from the 2025 ACC/SEC Basketball Challenge schedule release
#3 NC State-Auburn clash tests Will Wade's capacity as new Wolfpack coach
Will Wade coached LSU from 2017 until 2022 and was 55-33 against SEC teams in that span. He then coached McNeese State in the next two seasons and went 0-2 against Alabama and Mississippi State in nonconference games last season.
Wade was chosen as the new NC State coach this offseason, replacing Kevin Keatts. The Wolfpack coach will battle former SEC rival Bruce Pearl and last year's Final Four qualifier, Auburn, in the ACC/SEC Challenge at the Neville Arena.
Notably, Wade is 2-3 against Auburn when he was the coach of LSU, and he looks to even up matters against the Tigers this season.
#2 North Carolina, Kentucky meet in 'blue blood' showdown
Though the Alabama-Clemson and Arkansas-Louisville matchups appear intriguing in this year's edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge, nothing beats the blue-blood clash between North Carolina and Kentucky.
The Tar Heels (2,395 wins) and the Wildcats (2,412) are two of the three winningest squads in college basketball. Their showdown alone is one of the most sought-after games every NCAA season.
Both teams have fought 43 times since Feb. 29, 1924, and North Carolina leads the all-time series 25-18. The two historical programs play in Rupp Arena for the first time in 10 years.
The Wildcats look to extend their supremacy against the Tar Heels this season, as they have won their last two games in neutral venues.
#1 Retooled Duke hosts defending national champions Florida
Two of last season's Final Four teams meet in this season's ACC/SEC Challenge in what's expected to be an early preview of the 2026 NCAA Tournament final.
Duke hosts reigning national champion Florida at Cameron Indoor Stadium in an exciting clash between early NCAA title favorites. Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils will parade a retooled roster led by five-star prospects Dame Sarr, Nikolas Khamenia and Cameron Boozer.
Florida, on the other hand, made a big splash in the transfer portal and secured the commitments of former Arkansas guard Boogie Fland and Princeton's Xaivian Lee.
This is the 17th clash between the Blue Devils and the Gators, and Duke leads the series 13-3. The last time they met was in 2017 when the Blue Devils edged the Gators 87-84.
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