Let’s hear it for the ACC. Why? Because losing 9-7 to the SEC in their basketball challenge certainly sounds way better than last season’s 14-2 wipeout. And lots of these games went to the wire. In 2024, the SEC piled up its 14 victories by an average margin of 16 points.
Besides, the ACC could use a little sympathy. The league might not even have a team in the College Football Playoff bracket. Yes to Tulane, no to the ACC.
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True, the SEC showed who was boss with a 6-1 wipeout Wednesday night, but all in all, the annual Challenge served up near equal intrigue for both leagues and was properly dramatic.
Duke, LSU and Vanderbilt stayed unbeaten. Louisville, Missouri and SMU didn’t.
Seven of the games were within a two-point margin the last three minutes. Two went to overtime. Then again, Georgia mashed Florida State in Tallahassee by 34 points and Virginia rolled over Texas by 19 in Austin. Matter of fact, nine of the 16 games went to the visiting team, most notably North Carolina over Kentucky in Rupp Arena.
Included in the moments...
Alabama seeing a 19-point lead vanish against Clemson, but retrieving control in the last three minutes to win 90-84. Labaron Philon Jr. continued his knack for the big game: 29 points in this one to go with 29 against Gonzaga, 25 against St. John’s and 24 against Illinois.
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Arkansas up 18 points on No. 6 and unbeaten Louisville at halftime, the second largest halftime margin ever for the Razorbacks against an Associated Press top-10 team. The Cardinals got it down to five in the second half but lost 89-80.
Duke blowing a 15-point lead at home against Florida, but Isaiah Evans’s 3-pointer saving the day with under 20 seconds left to win 67-66. Until then, Evans had been 0 for 7 from behind the arc. “I was losing my mind, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve shot that bad in a long time. I just had to keep telling myself it’s bigger than me. It’s not just about me.”
Florida avoiding its recent turnover woes most of the game but making two killers in the last five seconds.
North Carolina and Kentucky going through 14 lead changes in Rupp Arena, neither able to get ahead more than six points. Then Tar Heels reserve freshman Derek Dixon took over the game with five points in the last minute to get North Carolina by, 67-64. Dixon had nine points overall after scoring none in the Tar Heels’ first two marquee games against Kansas and Michigan State.
Kentucky missing 12 of 13 shots from behind the arc, getting cleaned in second chance points 22-5 and losing for the 26th time to North Carolina, the most of any non-SEC opponent.
Syracuse holding Tennessee 26 points under its scoring average and edging the Vols 62-60 in a game with 16 lead changes. This only a week after the Orange went 0-3 at the Players Era Festival and coughed up 95 points to Iowa State.
Syracuse getting a push start with 19 points in the first half from Nate Kingz, who didn’t take a shot in the second half.
Georgia burying Florida State 107-73 for its largest margin of victory over a power conference opponent in nearly 30 years. Included was a 21-4 gap in fast break points. The 8-1 Bulldogs came in as the nation’s highest scoring team, and three days earlier had put up 123 points against Tennessee Tech. “Man, we can score it,” coach Mike White said. “We can, especially if we're allowed to play in space and the open floor. These guys turn people over so much. We'll struggle more probably against some of those other teams that really pack the paint and make us execute in half court, which we'll continue to get better at, but we're a talented offensive team."
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Texas A&M needing a late 15-2 run to down Pittsburgh 81-73. The Aggies made 20 of 22 free throws.
Virginia Tech and South Carolina going overtime after neither could score a point in the last 2:42 of regulation. Virginia Tech put up 16 points in the five extra minutes and won 86-83.
Oklahoma on a 39-21 run in the last 15 minutes at Wake Forest, turning a tied game into an 86-68 rout. The Sooners had not played in an ACC on-campus arena since 1993 and not won since 1986.
Miami getting away with 19 turnovers and being outscored 32-12 in bench points to win at Ole Miss 75-66. It is conceivable that this could be a College Football Playoff matchup.
Auburn on fire in an 83-73 win over North Carolina State. The Tigers shot 59 percent overall, 54.5 percent from the 3-point line and 19 for 22 in free throws. They got 57 points from two players — Kevin Overton with 29, Keyshawn Hall with 28. So the offense could be forgiven for those 20 turnovers.
Vanderbilt putting on another offensive show to hammer previously unhammered SMU 88-69. The Commodores’ line included 88 points, 57 percent shooting and only five turnovers. They were 30 for 39 in 2-pointers.
Missouri losing its first game of the season at Notre Dame 76-71 when the Irish put together a 12-4 closing dash in the last 95 seconds. The Tigers came in with the nation’s best shooting percentage and built a 12-point lead in the first half but hit only 34.6 percent the second half.
Virginia up 28 points on Texas’ home floor.
The strange box score from LSU’s 78-69 overtime win at ;Boston College. LSU was outscored 37-8 in bench points and lost a 14-point lead. The Tigers shot 26.5 percent the second half and missed 10 of 11 from behind the arc. But they were 10 for 10 from the free throw line in the extra period while Boston College was 0 for 8 from the field. The nine-point spread was LSU’s largest winning margin in overtime in 15 years.
Kowacie Reeves Jr. scoring 23 points, making seven of 14 from the 3-point line in Georgia Tech’s 85-73 loss to Mississippi State. Every other Yellow Jacket missing 15 of 16.
That game clinched the SEC victory, but the ACC seemed to have made its point. Yeah, it is better.
