Hoops: SEC vs. Big East Challenge

I forgot to post this Friday. The SEC and Big East have finalized the long rumored Hoops Challenge between the two conferences. From SECSports.com:

Four different teams from each conference will be selected to participate for the next four years and the format will feature doubleheaders played at two off-campus sites.

The December 2007 double headers will take place in Birmingham and Philadelphia.

Dec. 5th - Birmingham
WVU vs. Auburn at 7:00 pm on ESPN2
Georgetown vs. Alabama at 9:30 pm on ESPN

Dec. 6th - Philly
South Carolina vs. Providence at 7:00 pm on ESPN2
LSU vs. Villanova at 9:30 pm on ESPN

Teams invited to participate in the Big East/SEC Invitational are chosen by ESPN in consultation with the conferences and are based on geographic and competitive criteria.

If the series is 4 years * 4 games, hopefully that means every SEC team will get to participate in the event at least once. You'd think UF, UK and UT would get first dibs on a second game, but I'd like to think the love will be shared. Given that Auburn is participating (and they blow), it looks like UGA will get to participate.

It will be interesting to see which six cities get the other spots in the eight neutral site rotation. You would think the Meadowlands, Madison Square Garden, Chicago's United Center, Atlanta's Philips Arena, Nashville's Gaylord Center, and Indianapolis would be at the top of their wish list. This is one of those moments were geography and TV markets could work to our favor. We'll see.

See Also:
-- SEC vs. Big East in Hoops - AL.com
-- Suggested Matchups for Big East/SEC Challenge - GSB (April 2006)

PWD

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