WBB: UVA heads to Vanderbilt for ACC/SEC Challenge in December

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia will travel to Vanderbilt on Dec. 3 in the third edition of the ACC/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge, ESPN announced Thursday.

Start times and broadcast designations will be released by ESPN on a future date.

This will be the first meeting for the Cavaliers and Commodores since 2012. Virginia is 4-2 all-time in a series that dates back to 1989. The Cavaliers won the first two games of the series, including a 70-58 victory in the 1992 NCAA East Regional Final, which sent Virginia to its third consecutive Final Four. Vanderbilt picked up wins in 1992 and 1995. Virginia enters the matchup on a two-game winning streak over the Commodores with victories in 1996 and 2012.

The creation of the SEC/ACC Challenge in 2023 marked the end of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which ESPN established with the two conferences in 1999 for men’s basketball as a first-of-its-kind event. It expanded to include women’s matchups in 2007. SEC women’s basketball conducted a challenge with the Big 12 from 2014 to 2021.

Virginia enters the 2025-26 season coming off the program’s first winning season since 2017-18. The Cavaliers concluded last season by winning five of their last seven contests, including a 78-75 win at No. 8 North Carolina, the program’s first victory in Chapel Hill since 2001.

Last season, the Commodores finished 22-11 overall and 8-8 in conference play, good for ninth in the SEC standings. Vanderbilt earned a No. 7 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, falling against Oregon, 77-73, in the first round.

2025 ACC/SEC WOMEN’S CHALLENGE

Wednesday, Dec. 3
Georgia at Florida State
Georgia Tech at Texas A&M
Kentucky at Miami
NC State at Oklahoma
Tennessee at Stanford
Auburn at Syracuse
Virginia at Vanderbilt

Thursday, Dec. 4
Cal at Missouri
Clemson at Alabama
LSU at Duke
South Carolina at Louisville
North Carolina at Texas
Notre Dame at Ole Miss
Pitt at Mississippi State
Arkansas at SMU
Florida at Virginia Tech