The third annual ACC/SEC Challenge took place on December 2nd and 3rd, and fans were treated to a slew of marquee matchups. No. 4 Duke won in a thriller at Cameron Indoor Stadium over No. 15 Florida, No. 16 North Carolina took down No. 18 Kentucky in Rupp Arena, and Syracuse stole one over No. 13 Tennessee. After the event, the ACC has officially proven it's back in the national spotlight. Not because it dominated the event, or even won it, but because it was competitive. The ACC as a whole was utterly embarrassed in the 2024 ACC/SEC Challenge, and the teams at the bottom at least remaining competitive is a great sign for the long term health of the conference.
Most people probably wouldn't argue that the ACC is better than the SEC right now, but that's not the point here. Comparing last year's performance to this year's, fans across the ACC have to be thrilled with what the ACC was able to put together. Granted, the 2024-25 SEC was potentially the greatest single-season conference in the history of college basketball, but the way the ACC was just shoved around on all fronts was pretty humiliating to see.
ACC remains competitive with SEC in third annual ACC/SEC Challenge, proves the conference is moving in the right direction
The SEC still won the event with a final tally of nine wins compared to the ACC's seven. The event was all knotted up at 6-6 heading into the final window of games, but the SEC was able to prevail, with the most impressive win being No. 25 Arkansas over No. 6 Louisville 89-80. But, after taking a look at the ACC's record at this point last year, it's a great sign.
In 2024, the ACC was humiliated in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Duke picked up a massive win at home over then-No. 2 Auburn, and Clemson took down then-No. 4 Kentucky. Beyond those two contests, ACC teams went just 2-14. On top of that, ACC teams lost 11 of those 14 games by double digits and 5 of those games by 20 or more points. The ACC was just 2-6 at home as well.
The SEC made the ACC look like a low-major conference last season with how it bullied the ACC from top to bottom. The ACC came into this season with the expectation to be much better than years past, and these early signs show that's the case.