ESPN announced the matchups for the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday. Virginia Tech men's basketball will travel to South Carolina on Tuesday, Dec. 2, while Hokies women's basketball will host Florida on Thursday, Dec. 4.
It's the third year of the event, which replaced the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Coverage details, including television designations and commentator information, will be announced at a later date.
On the men's side, the conferences tied 7-7 in 2023 but the SEC ran the ACC out of the building in 2024 (14-2). The Hokies are 0-2 in the event with losses at Auburn and vs. Vanderbilt.
The Tech women lost at LSU in the inaugural challenge but beat Georgia on the road in Megan Duffy's first season. Last year's challenge went 10-6 in favor of the SEC, but the 2023 edition, like the men, was tied 7-7.
Men's Basketball at South Carolina: Tuesday, Dec. 2
The Hokies and Gamecocks will clash for the third straight season, this time in Columbia, S.C.
After not meeting on the hardwood for 26 years, they battled in Charlotte, N.C., in 2023 in the Hall of Fame Series, which South Carolina won 79-77. Then they squared off in Fort Myers last year, which the Gamecocks won 70-60. They're coming off a 12-20 (2-16 SEC) season under head coach Lamont Paris, who led the program to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024.
It'll be the 34th all-time contest between Virginia Tech and South Carolina and the 16th in Columbia. They were once counterparts in the Southern Conference and the Metro Conference. When the Hokies last traveled to Columbia in 1991, they played in Carolina Coliseum. The Gamecocks transitioned to using Colonial Life Arena in 2002, which seats 18,000.
Tech head coach Mike Young is 0-5 against SEC teams in his time in Blacksburg â Auburn, Florida (2020 NCAA Tournament), South Carolina twice and Vanderbilt.
The Hokies and Gamecocks also meet on the gridiron to open the 2025 football season on Sunday, Aug. 31, in Atlanta, Ga., in the Aflac Kickoff.
Women's Basketball vs. Florida: Thursday, Dec. 4
After going on the road for the first two years of the event, the Hokies have their first home game in the ACC/SEC Challenge and drew Florida.The Gators posted a 19-18 (7-12 SEC) record last season and reached the WBIT semifinals. Had Virginia Tech beaten Texas Tech in the second round, the Hokies would've hosted Florida in the quarterfinals. Head coach Kelly Rae Finley has taken the Gators to the postseason three times in four years, including an NCAA Tournament in 2022, and is 75-60.
It'll mark the fifth all-time meeting between Tech and Florida, the first since 2014. The Gators won two contests in Gainesville and one neutral-site clash in Flagstaff, Ariz., but the Hokies were victorious in the lone meeting in Blacksburg in 2013 (71-59).
In its lone competition against an SEC team in Megan Duffy's first year, Tech trailed Georgia by seven entering the fourth quarter but outscored the Bulldogs 24-8 in the final period and rallied to a 70-61 win in Athens.
Here's what the Hokies' non-conference schedule for the 2025-26 looks like with the addition of Florida:
Providence
More men's basketball scheduling news was officially announced on Thursday: Virginia Tech's neutral-site contest against Providence on Saturday, Nov. 8, in Uncasville, Conn., at the Mohegan Sun Arena.The event is part of the 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series, which the Hokies have participated in the last five seasons. The Hokies and Friars will be part of a doubleheader with George Washington and USF.
"We're honored and excited to be part of the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip Off at Mohegan Sun," Young said in Tech's release. "It's a first-class event that showcases some intriguing matchups, and we're looking forward to a great one with Providence. I have fond memories from the last time we were up there in 2021, and I look forward to taking our team back in November."
It's the second time the Hokies have played in Uncasville under Young. In their trip to Connecticut in 2020-21, they upset No. 3 Villanova (81-73 in OT) and beat USF (76-58).
This time around, they're reunited with the Friars, who they met seven times from 2001-04 as Big East foes. It'll mark the 10th overall game and the first since Tech won 69-57 in Blacksburg on Feb. 4, 2004. Interestingly, it'll be the first neutral-site meeting between the schools in the continental U.S. Their lone contest on a neutral floor was their first â on Dec. 30, 1982, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Providence was 12-20 (6-14 Big East) in 2024-25 under second-year head coach Kim English. The former George Mason head coach, who hails from Baltimore, was was 21-14 (10-10) in his first season.
Mark Berman of the Roanoke Times first reported the Hokies-Friars news on May 22. Tech Sideline obtained the game contract through a FOIA request (Freedom of Information Act), which states Virginia Tech will receive a stipend of $50,000, though costs for hotels, meals and travel will be deducted from that amount.
Here's an updated look at how Tech's 2025-26 schedule is shaping up after Thursday's announcements:
Full ACC/SEC Men's Challenge Slate
Tuesday, Dec. 2:Florida at Duke
North Carolina at Kentucky
Tennessee at Syracuse
Texas A&M at Pitt
Missouri at Notre Dame
Georgia at Florida State
Oklahoma at Wake Forest
Miami at Ole Miss
Virginia Tech at South Carolina
Wednesday, Dec. 3:
NC State at Auburn
Louisville at Arkansas
SMU at Vanderbilt
Clemson at Alabama
Mississippi State at Georgia Tech
LSU at Boston College
Virginia at Texas
Full ACC/SEC Women's Challenge Slate
Wednesday, Dec. 3:
Kentucky at Miami
Tennessee at Stanford
NC State at Oklahoma
Georgia at Florida State
Auburn at Syracuse
Georgia Tech at Texas A&M
Virginia at Vanderbilt
Thursday, Dec. 4:
LSU at Duke
South Carolina at Louisville
Florida at Virginia Tech
Notre Dame at Ole Miss
North Carolina at Texas
Clemson at Alabama
Arkansas at SMU
Pitt at Mississippi State
Cal at Missouri