May 14, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Southeastern Conference and Big 12 Conference have announced matchups for the 2013 Big 12/SEC Challenge, which will feature all 10 Big 12 schools and 10 SEC programs. South Carolina will travel to face Oklahoma State on Dec. 6 as part of the Challenge.

The meeting between the Gamecocks and Cowboys marks the second all-time between the two schools. The Gamecocks own a 1-0 upperhand in the series after a 70-61 South Carolina win in Columbia, competing in the Carolina Classic during the 1975-76 campaign.

Oklahoma State concluded the 2012-13 season ranked 17th in the AP Top 25 Poll with a 24-9 record after a loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Oregon. The Cowboys return Big 12 Player of the Year Marcus Smart and All-Big 12 Second Team honoree Markel Brown to the court this coming season.

“The ability to showcase SEC basketball in this kind of conference competition makes this a unique and exciting event for our coaches, student-athletes and fans,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. “We are pleased to be able to work with the Big 12 and ESPN to highlight the sport of men’s basketball.”

“I think the Big 12/SEC Challenge will be an awesome event and we are very thankful to be included to represent the SEC,” South Carolina head coach Frank Martin said. “Going into Oklahoma State we will be competing in one of the most difficult venues in the country, and they will be a top 10 team entering the season. This event presents an incredible challenge and will be a great experience for our team.”

All 10 of the Big 12’s teams and 10 of the SEC’s 14 member institutions will participate in the annual event. Arkansas, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee will not play in the first year. ESPN will provide exclusive coverage of all 10 games across it networks.

Eight of the 10 games in the 2013 event will be played at home sites (each conference has four home games) and two matchups will be at neutral sites.

The inaugural Big 12/SEC Challenge (the event title will rotate to SEC/Big 12 Challenge in 2014) is a combination of existing games already scheduled along with new matchups created for this event during November and December. The two conferences and ESPN will work to schedule matchups over consecutive days in future events.

2013 Big 12/SEC Challenge schedule (times and networks are to be determined):
Thursday, November 14 – Texas Tech at Alabama
Monday, December 2 – Vanderbilt at Texas; Auburn at Iowa State
Thursday, December 5 – Ole Miss at Kansas State’ West Virginia at Missouri; TCU at Mississippi State
Friday, December 6 – South Carolina at Oklahoma State; Kentucky vs. Baylor (Arlington, Texas)
Tuesday, December 10 – Kansas at Florida
Saturday, December 21 – Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma (Houston, Texas)