One of the greatest events that happens at the beginning of every college basketball season is the annual dual between the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference, known as the ACC/SEC Challenge. For the most part, both conferences see anywhere from two to five teams ranked in the Top 25 nationally. This season, there is at least two games where Top 25 opponents will face-off, and in some instances, their status in the Top 25 will be dependent on a win. Here are the top three games in this year’s battle between the ACC and SEC.
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No. 8 Miami (ACC) at No. 12 Kentucky (SEC)
The flawless and undefeated Hurricanes are the No. 8 team in the nation. They won the Baha Mar Hoops – Bahamas Championship after beating Georgia and Kansas State in back-to-back days. You could make the case that this team has not faced anyone to give them a test and that this matchup will be the first opportunity for the team to prove it deserves a Top 10 ranking. On the other side, the Wildcats have only lost one game this season and it was to the former No. 1 ranked Kansas two weeks ago. They have since beaten Stonehill, Saint Joseph’s and Marshall. A win here could put Kentucky in Top 10 consideration.
Matchup of the Game: Wooga Poplar vs. Antonio Reeves
No. 10 Tennessee (SEC) at No. 17 UNC (ACC)
What makes this game interesting is that both Tennessee and UNC are coming off of losses in their respective tournaments over the last week. Tennessee, the No. 7 team in the nation, lost back-to-back games against No. 2 Purdue and No. 1 Kansas in back-to-back days. That is the most brutal two-day stretch any team will face before March this season and Tennessee came out on the wrong end of both of those games, though they were by less than 10 points in each. UNC, the No. 14 team in the country, lost to unranked Villanova after letting Eric Dixon walk all over the team with 34 points and 10 rebounds. The Tar Heels, however, avoided back-to-back losses by beating No. 20 Arkansas the day after.
Matchup of the Game: Dalton Knecht vs. RJ Davis
No. 7 Duke (ACC) at Arkansas (SEC)
The Blue Devils are arguably the most potent team in the country in terms of offensive scoring in either conference. They dropped from No. 2 to No. 9 in ranking because of a loss to No. 3 ranked Arizona. They did bounce back in the State Farm Champions Classic and beat No. 21 Michigan State and have since won three straight games. The duo of Kyle Filipowski and Tyrese Proctor lead all sophomores in the nation and are only getting better. Arkansas was looking like a team that could make a run before it was downed by UNC-Greensboro two weeks ago. The Razorbacks since lost two straight games as a part of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, losing in the first round to Memphis and in the consolation bracket to No. 14 UNC. Arkansas could potentially be without its leading scorer in Tramon Mark, but this could be the opportunity the team needs to bounce back into the rankings.
Matchup of the Game: Khalif Battle vs. Jeremy Roach (or Tyrese Proctor)
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