By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky and Kansas are getting used to playing each other and the two foes will meet for a fifth straight season in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 26 at Rupp Arena.
Dating back to the 2014-15 campaign, the Wildcats and Jayhawks have played in either the State Farm Champions Classic or the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Next year’s meeting will mark the second time in the past three years Kansas will visit Rupp Arena. In the last meeting between the two teams two years ago in Lexington, the Jayhawks edged the Wildcats 79-73 in their first visit to the Commonwealth since 2005.
Kansas defeated Kentucky 65-61 in the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago.
Kentucky has lost three in a row to Kansas but holds a 22-9 lead in the overall series. The Wildcats have won seven of nine games in Lexington. The challenge, entering its sixth season, will feature 10 SEC schools and 10 from the Big 12. Each conference hosts five games each.
“The Big 12/SEC Challenge is a unique opportunity to showcase our basketball programs,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. “Playing the event on a single-date in January puts our programs in the college basketball spotlight.”
A year ago, the SEC won six games in the one-day event, including the Wildcats’ win at West Virginia, the team’s first appearance in Morgantown in more than four decades. Kentucky rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat the Mountaineers.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
2019 SEC/Big 12 Challenge
Alabama at Baylor
Arkansas at Texas Tech
Florida at TCU
Texas at Georgia
Kansas at Kentucky
Iowa State at Ole Miss
South Carolina at Oklahoma State
West Virginia at Tennessee
Kansas State at Texas A&M
Vanderbilt at Oklahoma