The SEC wins both the men’s and women’s ACC/SEC Basketball Challenge. How did Kentucky do in the challenge?

In 2024, the SEC won this competition. The men’s teams went 14-2, and the women’s teams went 10-6. That was a 7-7 tie between the two teams last year, but the SEC is showing that it is the best in the sport by beating the ACC. No matter which team lost, the SEC did a great job. Even the teams that did lose were proud of how hard they played.

Kentucky is one of only a few schools in the country with ranked men’s and women’s basketball teams. It is also the only university that did not win this task, which is an interesting fact. The men lost a tough game on the road to Clemson, and the women lost to #16 North Carolina on their home court.

Good thing the SEC and ACC worked together to match up the best teams, and both Kentucky teams had to play some of the best teams in the ACC on the road. The SEC becoming the best basketball league is great for Big Blue Nation, but it was disappointing to be the only team to lose in this challenge, both for men and women.

The men’s head coach, Mark Pope, and the women’s head coach, Kenny Brooks, continue to be a lot alike. They both took over a school that didn’t have any staff and quickly put together a good team. These good teams were guided by both of them and turned into great teams that got ranked and then moved up this season. It was Pope with Duke and Brooks with Louisville, and both beat very good teams. Now, every coach lost the same task in the same week.

Pope and his team will have an even tougher time when they play #7 Gonzaga in Seattle on December 7th. Brooks takes the Lady Cats back to their own house to play Queens University in a buy game on Monday, December 9th.