SEC–Big East Challenge

The SEC–Big East Challenge was an in-season NCAA college basketball series, matching up teams from the Southeastern Conference and the original Big East Conference. The event, which was held each season from 2007 to 2012, took place in early December each year, before the start of conference play.

The original six-year contract for the series expired in 2013 and was not renewed. This was likely an effect of the 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment, which resulted in the members of the original Big East splitting up into the football-sponsoring American Athletic Conference ("The American") and a new, non-football Big East Conference in the summer of 2013. The SEC proceeded to establish a new series with the Big 12 Conference called the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Format

Initially, each annual series included four games featuring four teams from each conference. The games were held as two double-headers in two different, typically off-campus, sites. Though most of the sites are not home arenas for the teams featured in the event, many have been in the same cities as one of the participants. Madison Square Garden in New York City hosted a double-header in 2009 that featured the St. John's Red Storm, who use the Garden as their home arena for some games. In 2010, two games were held at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, which served as the Louisville Cardinals' home arena until the KFC Yum! Center opened for the 2010–11 season. Other venues were occasional home venues for invitational participants. Villanova occasionally plays at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where they participated in the first year of the Invitational in 2007 (when the venue was known as Wachovia Center). Pittsburgh occasionally hosts games in the Consol Energy Center since it opened in 2010, where they played in the invitational in December of that year.

Starting with the 2011–12 season, the format was changed to allow every SEC team to participate along with an equal number of Big East teams. This format featured 12 games over three days beginning on the Thursday after Thanksgiving of each year. The locations of the games were also changed; they would be played at home campus sites with each conference hosting six games a year.

For the 2012 challenge, the SEC's new members Texas A&M and Missouri did not participate, while the departure of West Virginia from the Big East meant that only three Big East teams would be excluded instead of four.

Team records

In the inaugural series in 2007, the Big East won three games to the SEC's one. The two conferences tied, with each team winning two games, in 2008 and 2009. In the 2010 series, the SEC won for the first time, three games to one. In the 2011 series, the first year with 12 games, the Big East won eight games to four.

Southeastern Conference (15–25)

Team	Won	Loss
Alabama Crimson Tide	0	3
Arkansas Razorbacks	1	2
Auburn Tigers	0	4
Florida Gators	1	2
Georgia Bulldogs	0	3
Kentucky Wildcats	3	1
LSU Tigers	2	1
Missouri Tigers	0	0
Mississippi State Bulldogs	2	2
Ole Miss Rebels	2	1
South Carolina Gamecocks	1	2
Tennessee Volunteers	2	2
Texas A&M Aggies	0	0
Vanderbilt Commodores	1	2
Overall	15	25

Big East Conference (25–15)

Team	Won	Loss
Cincinnati Bearcats	3	0
Connecticut Huskies	1	1
DePaul Blue Demons	1	2
Georgetown Hoyas	3	0
Louisville Cardinals	2	0
Marquette Golden Eagles	0	2
Notre Dame Fighting Irish	1	1
Pittsburgh Panthers	1	1
Providence Friars	2	1
Rutgers Scarlet Knights	1	2
Seton Hall Pirates	1	2
St. John's Red Storm	2	1
Syracuse Orange	3	0
South Florida Bulls	1	1
Villanova Wildcats	2	0
West Virginia Mountaineers	1	1
Overall	25	15

Results

2007

Date	SEC team	Big East team	Location	Television	Attendance	Winner	Conference Leader
December 5	Alabama	#4 Georgetown	BJCC Arena (Birmingham, Alabama)	ESPN		Georgetown, 70–60	Big East (1–0)
	Auburn	West Virginia		ESPN2	10,481	West Virginia, 88–59	Big East (2–0)
December 6	South Carolina	Providence	Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)	ESPN2		South Carolina, 68–67	Big East (2–1)
	LSU	#21 Villanova		ESPN		Villanova, 68–67	Big East (3–1)

2008

Date	SEC team	Big East team	Location	Television	Attendance	Winner	Conference Leader
December 16	Vanderbilt	South Florida	Sommet Center (Nashville, Tennessee)	ESPN2		Vanderbilt, 71–52	SEC (1–0)
	#19 Tennessee	#23 Marquette		ESPN		Tennessee, 80–68	SEC (2–0)
December 18	Mississippi State	Cincinnati	U.S. Bank Arena (Cincinnati, Ohio)	ESPN2		Cincinnati, 75–63	SEC (2–1)
	Ole Miss	#9 Louisville		ESPN	9,522	Louisville, 77–68	Tied (2–2)

2009

Date	SEC team	Big East team	Location	Television	Attendance	Winner	Conference Leader
December 9	Georgia	St. John's	Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)	ESPN2		St. John's, 66–56	Big East (1–0)
	#4 Kentucky	#12 Connecticut		ESPN	15,874	Kentucky, 64–61	Tied (1–1)
December 10	Mississippi State	DePaul	St. Pete Times Forum (Tampa, Florida)	ESPN2		Mississippi State, 76–45	SEC (2–1)
	#11 Florida	#6 Syracuse		ESPN	9,353	Syracuse, 85–73	Tied (2–2)

2010

Date	SEC team	Big East team	Location	Television	Attendance	Winner	Conference Leader
December 8	Arkansas	Seton Hall	Freedom Hall (Louisville, Kentucky)	ESPN2		Arkansas, 71–62	SEC (1–0)
	#16 Kentucky	#23 Notre Dame		ESPN		Kentucky, 72–58	SEC (2–0)
December 11	Auburn	Rutgers	CONSOL Energy Center, (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)	ESPN2		Rutgers, 63–54	SEC (2–1)
	#13 Tennessee	#3 Pittsburgh		ESPN	15,166	Tennessee, 83–76	SEC (3–1)

2011

Date	Time	Big East team	SEC team	Location	Television	Attendance	Winner	Challenge Leader
Thurs., Dec. 1	7:00 PM	Providence	South Carolina	Colonial Life Arena • Columbia, South Carolina	ESPNU	7,476	Providence, 76–67	Big East (1–0)
	7:30 PM	St. John's	#1 Kentucky	Rupp Arena • Lexington, Kentucky	ESPN2	24,119	Kentucky, 81–59	Tie (1–1)
	9:00 PM	DePaul	Ole Miss	Allstate Arena • Rosemont, Illinois	ESPNU	7,129	Ole Miss, 70–68	SEC (2–1)
	9:30 PM	Georgetown	#12 Alabama	Coleman Coliseum • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ESPN2	15,383	Georgetown, 57–55	Tie (2–2)
Fri., Dec. 2	7:00 PM	#3 Syracuse	#9 Florida	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, New York	ESPN	24,459	Syracuse, 72–68	Big East (3–2)
	7:00 PM	Cincinnati	Georgia	Stegeman Coliseum • Athens, Georgia	ESPNU	6,796	Cincinnati, 57–51	Big East (4–2)
	9:00 PM	#6 Louisville	#19 Vanderbilt	KFC Yum! Center • Louisville, Kentucky	ESPN	22,728	Louisville, 62–60 OT	Big East (5–2)
	9:00 PM	Seton Hall	Auburn	Prudential Center • Newark, New Jersey	ESPNU	6,591	Seton Hall, 81–59	Big East (6–2)
Sat., Dec. 3	3:15 PM	#10 Connecticut	Arkansas	XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut	ESPN	14,333	Connecticut, 75–62	Big East (7–2)
	5:15 PM	#17 Pittsburgh	Tennessee	Thompson–Boling Arena • Knoxville, Tennessee	ESPN	17,249	Pittsburgh, 61–56	Big East (8–2)
	7:00 PM	Rutgers	LSU	Louis Brown Athletic Center • Piscataway, New Jersey	ESPNU	5,534	LSU, 55–50	Big East (8–3)
	9:00 PM	West Virginia	#21 Mississippi State	Humphrey Coliseum • Starkville, Mississippi	ESPNU	7,529	Mississippi State, 75–62	Big East (8–4)
First year that the invitational featured 12 games – All times Eastern Notre Dame, Marquette, Villanova and South Florida did not participate for the Big East.

2012

Date	Time	Big East Team	SEC Team	Location	Television	Attendance	Winner	Challenge Leader
Thurs, Nov. 29	7:00 pm	Notre Dame	#8 Kentucky	Edmund P. Joyce Center • South Bend, Indiana	ESPN2	9,149	Notre Dame, 64–50	Big East (1–0)
	7:30 pm	St. John's	South Carolina	Carnesecca Arena • Queens, New York	ESPNU	4,902	St. John's, 89–65	Big East (2–0)
	9:00 pm	Marquette	#7 Florida	O'Connell Center • Gainesville, Florida	ESPN2	10,245	Florida, 82–49	Big East (2–1)
	9:30 pm	Seton Hall	LSU	Pete Maravich Assembly Center • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	ESPNU	7,295	LSU, 72–67	Tied (2–2)
Fri, Nov. 30	6:30 pm	#20 Georgetown	Tennessee	Verizon Center • Washington, D.C.	ESPN	13,656	Georgetown, 37–36	Big East (3–2)
	7:00 pm	South Florida	Georgia	USF Sun Dome • Tampa, Florida	ESPNU	5,167	South Florida, 64–53	Big East (4–2)
	8:30 pm	#6 Syracuse	Arkansas	Bud Walton Arena • Fayetteville, Arkansas	ESPN	19,259	Syracuse, 91–82	Big East (5–2)
	9:00 pm	DePaul	Auburn	Auburn Arena • Auburn, Alabama	ESPNU	5,827	DePaul, 80–76	Big East (6–2)
Sat, Dec. 1	12:00 pm	Providence	Mississippi State	Dunkin' Donuts Center • Providence, Rhode Island	ESPNU	6,156	Providence, 73–63	Big East (7–2)
	2:00 pm	Rutgers	Ole Miss	Tad Smith Coliseum • University, Mississippi	ESPNU	4,277	Ole Miss, 80–67	Big East (7–3)
	3:00 pm	#17 Cincinnati	Alabama	Fifth Third Arena • Cincinnati	ESPN2	10,155	Cincinnati, 58–56	Big East (8–3)
	5:00 pm	Villanova	Vanderbilt	Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, Tennessee	ESPN2	9,365	Villanova, 62–52	Big East (9–3)
All times Eastern Rankings from November 26 AP Poll. #5 Louisville, Connecticut and Pittsburgh did not participate for the Big East, while Texas A&M and #16 Missouri did not participate for the SEC.