It’s no secret that the entire college basketball season builds towards March, but one way to know that we’re inching closer to the finish line, weirdly, is the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
That’s because while the Big 12-SEC Challenge doesn’t have the cache of some of college basketball’s early season events (the Maui Invitational, ACC-Big Ten Challenge), it comes at an important point on the calendar: Usually, the Saturday before the Super Bowl, when everyone’s attention is slowly turning to college basketball. The event serves as a good barometer of where these teams are, not only in league play, but on the national scale, as they get set for their final, tough, out of conference game of the season.