Alabama's Opponent Announced for Big 12/SEC Challenge
Alabama basketball will get the chance to avenge the loss that snapped its 10-game winning streak in 2021 when the Crimson Tide returns to Oklahoma for the 2023 Big 12/SEC Challenge.
This will be the third time the two teams have met up against each other in the event (2018 and 2021), and the sixth time overall that Alabama is part of the field. Of course the two teams will soon be conference foes when the Sooners join the SEC.
Every season since the 2013-14 season, the two conferences meet up on the hardwood for bragging rights. Because the SEC has four more schools, four teams are excluded from the event each season. The Crimson Tide has a 4-2 record in the event with wins over Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor and both losses coming on the road.
The 2023 field was announced Thursday morning which also has matchups between Kentucky and Kansas, Arkansas and Baylor, and Tennessee and Texas.
Last season, Alabama beat No. 4 Baylor 87-78 in Coleman Coliseum as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge and the SEC's 6-4 win. It marked the third straight season the conference has either tied or won the event.
More pieces of the non-conference scheduling puzzle are falling into place as Alabama continues to build another challenging non-conference schedule.
The Crimson Tide will host Gonzaga in Birmingham on Dec. 17, and Alabama will also make the return trip to Houston after hosting the cougars in an epic game last December. South Dakota State is coming back to Tuscaloosa for the second season in a row. Nate Oats' squad is also part of the field at the Phil Knight Invitational over Thanksgiving week in Portland, Oregon which includes Connecticut, Iowa State, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oregon, Portland and Villanova.