A top-heavy basketball league will face a balanced basketball league Saturday in the seventh annual Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Big 12 has three of the top 10 teams in the latest NET rankings - No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Kansas and No. 7 West Virginia - while Auburn is the highest-ranked Southeastern Conference program at No. 19. Yet the SEC has six teams ranked among the top 40, which is two more than the Big 12 possesses.
"I don't think we're quite as strong this year at the top of our league, but the middle of our league is much, much better," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Thursday afternoon. "I don't know how many of our teams are or are not getting in (the NCAA tournament), but we've got some great nonconference wins and this Big 12/SEC Challenge will be another important barometer. The better we do in this, the better chance we have of advancing more teams into the tournament."
The SEC has just one triumph in this 10-game event against the Big 12, posting a 6-4 record in 2018. The Big 12 won six of the matchups last January, when Iowa State's 87-73 victory at Ole Miss marked the only win for a road team.
Tennessee defeated visiting West Virginia 83-66 in last year's Big 12/SEC Challenge, which marked the 14th consecutive victory for the top-ranked Volunteers.
While the Big 12 does have the edge this season in terms of elite teams, there are some factors that could aid the SEC. Baylor is the seventh program to occupy the top spot in the Associated Press poll this season, so the Bears could be the latest team burdened by that when they visit Florida, which was stout at home during last Saturday's 69-47 thrashing of Auburn.
BIG 12/SEC CHALLENGE
Saturday’s ScheduleAll times ESTIowa State at Auburn (noon, ESPNU)Missouri at West Virginia (noon, ESPN)LSU at Texas (2, ESPN)Mississippi State at Oklahoma (2, ESPN2)TCU at Arkansas (4, ESPN2)Tennessee at Kansas (4, ESPN)Oklahoma State at Texas A&M (4, ESPNU)Kansas State at Alabama (6, ESPN2)Kentucky at Texas Tech (6, ESPN)Baylor at Florida (8, ESPN)NOTE: Ole Miss at Georgia (5:30) and Vanderbilt at South Carolina (8) will be shown on the SEC Network.
Gators coach Mike White admitted Thursday that Baylor's No. 1 ranking is the least of his concerns.
"I'm locked in on not turning the ball over against them and figuring out how we get a clean look in the half court, because they are defending at a very high level," White said. "I don't care what number they have next to their name. All I know is that they're very good."
The Baylor-Florida game is the marquee showdown of this year's event with an 8 p.m. tipoff on ESPN.
Tennessee would seem to be the SEC's biggest underdog with its trip to Kansas, but Bill Self's Jayhawks will be playing Saturday afternoon without sophomore forward David McCormick and junior forward Silvio De Sousa, who are suspended due to their roles during Tuesday night's brawl against Kansas State. McCormick has started most of the season, though he and DeSousa do not rank among the team's top five scorers.
"We're going to prepare like we would," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "Bill has been around a long time, and he knows what he's doing. He'll do whatever he has to do in terms of adjustments."
The Big 12/SEC Challenge will tip off at noon with Iowa State traveling to Auburn and with Missouri visiting West Virginia. Auburn-Iowa State matches two reigning conference tournament champions.
Kentucky travels to 2019 NCAA tournament runner-up Texas Tech, and the LSU-Texas showdown pits Tigers coach Will Wade against former boss Shaka Smart.
"I wouldn't be in coaching if it wasn't for him," Wade said. "I certainly wouldn't be a head coach, and I wouldn't have been the head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga at such a young age if I didn't work for him and wasn't on his staff. I owe a vast majority of my career to him giving me a chance as an assistant coach at VCU. We knew each other before that, because we had worked together at Clemson, and I've known him for a long time.
"He's had a huge impact on my career, so it will be a little different."
Every Big 12 member is ranked among the top 100 teams in the NET, as is every SEC team in this event except for Texas A&M, which is 132nd. Both leagues have five teams in the latest NCAA tournament projection by ESPN's Joe Lunardi, so nobody is downplaying the significance a successful Saturday could provide.
"I think that this is very important and that it's always important," White said. "It just gives this league, and conversely the Big 12, the opportunity to compete against quality opponents. The SEC has a chance to improve the way our computer numbers look and give us some quality opportunities."
Said Kentucky's John Calipari: "I think there is one league (the Big Ten) ahead right now and then another two or three in that next wave, and then there are another two or three below us. We're in good shape, and my guess is that we will get anywhere from six to eight in."
Given that the SEC has 14 members and the Big 12 has 10, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt will not participate in this season's or next season's challenges. Those four finished at the bottom of the 2018 league race, which determined the teams that had to sit out.
Ole Miss plays at Georgia on Saturday, when Vanderbilt is at South Carolina.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.