DJ Wagner will face Miami in Rupp Arena in the ACC/SEC Challenge. (Twitter Photo)
When the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge was announced, the assumption for most Kentucky fans — and most national basketball analysts — was that Kentucky and Duke would be matched.
One year the teams would play in Rupp Arena and one year in Cameron Indoor Arena on the Duke campus. Or at least that is what most of us thought would happen since surely both leagues would want to maximize exposure for this new event that replaced the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
But instead of Duke, Kentucky will get Miami at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 at Rupp Arena. That does not sound as sexy as UK-Duke but remember Miami was a Final Four team last season (no TV designation has been announced).
The two teams have not played since Miami beat the Cats Dec. 6, 2008, in Rupp Arena. Kentucky won the first three games in the series against Miami before that 2008 loss.
This will be Kentucky’s ninth game on the 2023-24 schedule against teams ranked in the top 25 of ESPN’s very early preseason rating. Miami is currently No. 17 in that early preseason poll.
Other top 25 teams UK is scheduled to play are No. 1 Kansas, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Gonzaga, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 18 Alabama and No. 19 Texas A&M. UK plays Tennessee and Arkansas both home-and-home and Gonzaga and Alabama will also play in Rupp Arena.
Kentucky has the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class led by DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards along with Antonio Reeves, last year’s second leading scorer, and West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell.
Kentucky starts its season July 12 in Toronto in the Global Jam. The Cats are representing the United States in the under-23 tournament. Canada, Germany and Africa will also have teams in the round-robin event that ends July 16.
So who did Duke get in the ACC/SEC Challenge? Duke will play at Arkansas, a team that has started creating more national buzz than UK in some ways.
Tennessee will play at North Carolina in another of the top matchups while Alabama, the No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, will get to host Clemson.
Louisville was not included the conference matchups.
