ESPN released its schedule for the fourth annual SEC/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge this week, as the 2026/27 NCAA women's basketball calendar begins to take shape.
The three-day event returns in December with 16 games across two days of action. All games will air across ESPN networks, including the ACC Network and SEC Network.
Top 10 Battles Lead SEC/ACC Women's College Basketball Slate
Games run December 2nd through December 3rd, as the event pairs teams from two of the deepest conferences in women's college basketball.
The upcoming slate features several blockbuster games with a premier December 3rd showdown serving as headliner. NCAA tournament runner-up South Carolina — ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 list — will travel to Durham to face No. 3 Duke.
Another Top 10 collision goes down just a day earlier as No. 8 Texas hosts No. 7 Louisville in Austin. On that same night, No. 10 LSU travels to Chapel Hill to face No. 9 North Carolina.
Those top-tier NCAA rivalries promise to bring even more attention on the women's conference challenge.
2026 SEC/ACC Women's College Basketball Challenge Lineup
The event continues to draw larger audiences, with the 2025 Women's Challenge posting a 27% year-over-year viewership gain.
South Carolina vs Louisville drew 598,000 viewers, while LSU vs Duke pulled in 549,000 as the two most-watched matchups of last year's run.
The full 2026 Women's Challenge Schedule includes:
Wednesday, December 2nd
- Stanford at Auburn
- Miami at Florida
- LSU at North Carolina
- NC State at Ole Miss
- Georgia at SMU
- Louisville at Texas
Thursday, December 3rd
- Georgia Tech at Alabama
- Wake Forest at Arkansas
- Texas A&M at California
- South Carolina at Duke
- Missouri at Florida State
- Clemson at Kentucky
- Virginia at Mississippi State
- Oklahoma at Syracuse
- Notre Dame at Vanderbilt
- Tennessee at Virginia Tech
Ex-Florida star Me'Arah O'Neal committed to Kentucky on Monday, as the Wildcats landed one of the NCAA transfer portal's biggest offseason names.
The daughter of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal announced her decision via Instagram after entering the NCAA transfer portal earlier in April. Me'Arah O'Neal posted 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game as a sophomore with the Gators before Florida fired head coach Kelly Rae Finley following the program's fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament absence.
The move reunites the McDonald's All-American with SEC competition. O'Neal joins a Kentucky program that reached the Sweet 16 last season under head coach Kenny Brooks, with aspirations for a deeper 2027 NCAA Tournament run.
Shaq recently praised his youngest daughter's versatility on social media, calling her "the best athlete in the family" and admitting he wishes he could shoot like her. The 15-time NBA All-Star emphasized her modern skill set, blending shooting, ball-handling, and control.
"She's not an old-school player. She's the new pick-your-type player," Shaq said on his podcast. "She can shoot, she can dribble. She can't be fazed when it comes to certain things."
Kentucky returns leading scorer Clara Strack alongside three incoming McDonald's All-American freshmen and UConn transfer Ayanna Patterson. The Wildcats lost in the Sweet 16, but built momentum heading into next season.
Me'Arah O'Neal joins three siblings who played college basketball. Shareef competed at UCLA and LSU, Amirah played at LSU and Texas Southern, while brother Shaqir averaged 5.3 points last season at Sacramento State — where Shaq currently serves as the men's basketball GM under coach Mike Bibby.
Kim Mulkey remains one of the most polarizing figures in women's March Madness history. And she's also one of the most successful.
The LSU head coach has appeared in the NCAA tournament for more than three decades as either a player or coach, missing only two years since the women's event took flight in 1981. Her flashy style and big personality have made her impossible to ignore on college basketball's biggest stage.
Mulkey stands alone as the only person to win a national championship as a player, assistant coach and head coach. She's also the only coach in women's basketball to win titles at two different programs — Baylor in 2005, 2012, and 2019, and LSU in 2023.
Only UConn's Geno Auriemma and the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee have won more NCAA championships than Mulkey.
From Louisiana Tech to Baylor: Building a Championship Dynasty
Mulkey won an AIAW title as a point guard at Louisiana Tech in 1981, before capturing the inaugural NCAA tournament championship in 1982. The five-foot-four firebrand then earned Olympic gold with the 1984 US team before transitioning to coaching.
She took over Baylor's program in 2000 and immediately turned the Lady Bears into contenders, building a strong recruiting class while leading the program to its first championship in 2005.
Later, the 2011/12 Baylor team completed the program's only undefeated season with star center Brittney Griner anchoring the roster. That squad went wire-to-wire at No. 1 and captured the national title — the most successful team in Mulkey's career.
Mulkey's 2018/19 lineup earned the NCAA tournament's No. 1 overall seed behind future WNBA stars NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo, going on to deliver Mulkey's third championship at Baylor.
Off-Court Controversies Color March Madness Success
However, Mulkey's championship pedigree does come with some baggage. She's faced criticism for fraught relationships with former players and made controversial statements over the years.
Brittney Griner told ESPN in 2013 that Mulkey advised students to remain quiet about their sexual orientation, saying she wouldn't have approved if Griner had come out as gay during her time at Baylor. Mulkey later declined to publicly voice support Griner when the WNBA star was detained in Russia in 2022.
Mulkey also defended Baylor during a university-wide sexual assault scandal in 2017, before making derisive comments about COVID-19 precautions in 2021.
A New NCAA ERA Forces Mulkey to Modernize
In 2021, Mulkey made the surprising leap from Baylor to LSU — just as NIL deals were transforming college athletics. And she's proven more adaptable than expected within the new NCAA landscape.
LSU became a titan of NIL opportunities under Mulkey. The program remains aggressive in the transfer portal, while offering players more compensation and high-profile competition.
Mulkey has embraced Baton Rouge's culture, leaning into the school's vibrant colors and raucous crowds. But building another juggernaut has taken time in the much tougher SEC conference, where top coaches like South Carolina's Dawn Staley and Texas's Vic Schaefer are more than prepared to challenge Mulkey's March Madness dominance.
Fast-Tracking LSU's 2023 Championship Win
In 2023, Mulkey led LSU to its first national title in just her second season, despite the Tigers not being college basketball's best team all year. That distinction belonged to South Carolina — one team Mulkey's LSU has never beaten.
High-profile transfer Angel Reese and top recruit Flau'jae Johnson powered the Tigers to an unexpected March Madness run. LSU subsequently defeated Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship game, launching Reese into superstar status and padding Mulkey's already stacked resume.
With that, the 2023 NCAA final became arguably the most influential single game in women's college basketball history.
Navigating Shifting Roles as 2026 March Madness Tips Off
While LSU's 2026 roster still features players from that 2023 championship team, Mulkey's role has shifted from conference protagonist to dark horse contender.
Mulkey doesn't schedule aggressively in nonconference play, opting for matchups against teams like Houston Christian, Marist, and Alcorn State. LSU ranks second in NCAA history this year for games scoring over 100 points, giving the transfer-heavy roster some extra cushion to gel.
The Tigers' four regular-season losses came against top-ranked SEC programs Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Texas, and South Carolina. Mulkey acknowledged the stiff competition during the 2026 SEC tournament.
"How long has Dawn been at South Carolina? 18 years? I was at Baylor for 21 years," she said. "It takes time to lay a foundation. I've been at LSU five years. We've won a national championship. We're so close."
With Johnson wrapping up her college career this April, Mulkey is expected hit the transfer portal hard to recruit the best available talent for next season.
LSU remains an unfinished product. But if one thing is true, it's that the Tigers will always deliver a show when they take the court.
And, of course, you can never count out a Kim Mulkey team once March Madness arrives.
Selection Sunday is fast approaching, after four No. 1 seeds emerged from 2026 conference tournaments to set the stage for the March Madness bracket.
UConn remains the overall top seed despite questions about whether UCLA might deserve the spot, while SEC tournament winner Texas jumped South Carolina to claim the third seed. The Longhorns victory allows the team to stay close to home with potential games in Fort Worth, while South Carolina heads to Sacramento to tip off regional play.
UCLA crushed Iowa 96-45 to capture the Big Ten tournament title, with the Bruins holding advantages in key metrics with 18 Q1 wins and one of the nation's toughest schedules. However, the NCAA selection committee already placed undefeated UConn at No. 1 in both Top 16 reveals this season.
Duke claimed the fourth No. 1 seed by winning both the ACC regular season and tournament championships, after the Blue Devils beat Louisville in overtime to secure the top line.
West Virginia broke into the Top 16 for the first time since 1992 by upsetting TCU 62-53 in the Big 12 championship, with the Mountaineers subsequently hosting NCAA tournament games.
However, the bubble remains tight heading into March 15th's Selection Sunday. Arizona State boosted its resume with two Big 12 tournament wins, while Richmond survived despite losing in the Atlantic 10 semifinals and Nebraska hangs on despite a first-round exit.
How to Watch Selection Sunday's March Madness Bracket 2026 Reveal
Selection Sunday arrives March 15th at 8 PM ET on ESPN, with 23 automatic bids remaining undecided as the 2026 bracket continues to take shape this week.
Alabama basketball announced that women's team standouts Karly Weathers and Jessica Timmons earned 2026 SEC awards this week, as Weathers won 2026 Scholar-Athlete of the Year while Timmons earned All-SEC Second Team honors.
Weathers became the first Alabama basketball star to receive the academic award in three seasons — and just the third time any Crimson Tide player has won the prestigious award. The nursing major maintains a 3.99 GPA and is set to graduate this spring with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Starting in all 30 regular-season games this year, Weathers leads Alabama in rebounds (6.1), assists (3.3), and steals (1.6) per game while averaging 9.5 points. The guard additionally scored a career-high 23 points at Missouri on January 12th.
Timmons received her first All-SEC nod in her final regular season, with the senior guard leading the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game entering the 2026 SEC Tournament. She recorded 25 double-digit games this season, including 10 where she tallied more than 20 points.
Timmons scored a career-high 34 points against Florida on February 22nd, tying for the eighth-most single-game points in Alabama basketball history. She currently holds four individual Top 10 SEC rankings, including third in both free throw percentage (85%) and three-point field goal percentage (43%).
Weathers earned SEC Community Service Team honors earlier this year, after logging more than 360 clinical hours over her last two semesters at Alabama.
How to Watch Alabama Basketball at the 2026 SEC Tournament
The Crimson Tide finished the regular season on a 21-9 overall and 7-9 conference record, entering this week's SEC tournament bracket as the No. 11 seed.
Alabama tips off tonight's SEC showdown against No. 14 seed Missouri at 8:30 PM ET, live on SEC Network.
Kaiya Wynn announced plans to leave the Tennessee women's basketball team on Tuesday, with the reserve guard citing Sunday's Senior Day game with coach Kim Caldwell as her "breaking point."
Caldwell kept Wynn on the bench for the majority of the 87-77 loss to No. 5 Vanderbilt, ultimately asking her to check in with just 15 seconds left. Wynn, a Tennessee native, spent five years with the Lady Vols, but appeared in just nine matchups this season after missing all of 2024/25 sidelined with an ACL tear.
"As someone who has never started a career game, I was hoping to start in my last appearance in Thompson-Boling," Wynn posted to social media. "To be asked to check into the game with 15 seconds left while losing was not how I wanted to spend my final moments in my arena after five years."
Neither Tennessee nor coach Caldwell has made an announcement about Wynn's departure. Another senior, center Jersey Wolfenbarger, also sat out on Sunday, despite appearing in 18 games this season.
The Lady Vols face significant struggles heading into this week's SEC tournament, coming off an 8-8 conference and 16-12 overall record after an up-and-down NCAA season. The team's additionally lost nine of its past 11 games under Caldwell, including its past six consecutive clashes.
After a recent 30-point defeat at the hands of undefeated UConn and a program-worst 43-point loss to South Carolina, Caldwell went so far as to publicly criticize her team.
"We had a lot of quit in us tonight," she said. "When we're not comfortable and things don't go our way, I have a team that'll just quit on you."
What's next for Tennessee basketball under coach Kim Caldwell
Tennessee enters this week's SEC tournament as the No. 6 seed, tipping off against the Alabama-Missouri winner on Thursday at 8:30 PM ET.
The second-round showdown will air live on SEC Network.
LSU basketball defeated Tennessee 89-73 on Thursday night, as the No. 6 Tigers celebrated Senior Night with their third consecutive NCAA victory.
The win saw LSU improve to 25-4 overall and 11-4 SEC record, while unranked Tennessee dropped to 16-11 on the season and 8-7 in conference play. The Tigers also extended their winning streak against the Lady Vols to four games, dating back to February 2020.
Junior guard Mikaylah Williams led LSU with 20 points and 10 rebounds, recording her third-career — and second consecutive — double-double alongside five assists and two steals.
“I thought Mikaylah played strong,” Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey said postgame. "She played extremely strong, both on the perimeter and she was taking it in there hard. We all know Mikaylah is one of the best jump shooting mid-range players in the country, but she mixed up what she was doing offensively."
LSU outscored Tennessee 18-6 in the second quarter to take control. The Tigers went on to hold a 43-42 halftime lead before extending the advantage to 70-59 after three quarters and closing out the fourth quarter with a 19-14 edge.
South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 18 points in the win, while also tallying six rebounds, three assists, and four blocks to tie her career high. Senior Flau'jae Johnson added 10 points to seal the deal, while freshman ZaKiyah Johnson contributed 14 and Grace Knox added 13 off the bench.
Where to Watch LSU Basketball This Week
LSU closes out the NCAA regular season against Mississippi State this Sunday at 4 PM ET, live on SEC Network.
With just nine days left in the 2025/26 NCAA basketball regular season, this weekend's ranked lineup could dictate both conference champions and national tournament seeding — with the SEC leading the charge.
The SEC steals the spotlight on Sunday, as college basketball's deepest conference will dominate ESPN with a triple-header of ranked matchups.
Fresh off a tight 78-70 loss to No. 7 LSU, No. 17 Ole Miss will close out their ranked schedule against conference leaders No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday, with the 8-5 Rebels currently sitting in a three-way SEC standings tie with No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 21 Tennessee.
"If you look at the history of our league, we always have anywhere from four to five to six teams in the Sweet 16," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. "When we're in here fighting night in and night out, it's tough, and you can lose at any point."
The Sooners and Vols will then face off in their own battle for conference positioning, before No. 5 Vanderbilt looks to bounce back from a 76-74 upset loss to No. 24 Georgia by defeating No. 16 Kentucky.
How to watch Sunday's SEC basketball triple-header
No. 17 Ole Miss will tip off Sunday's SEC triple-header against No. 3 South Carolina at 12 PM ET, before No. 21 Tennessee takes on No. 11 Oklahoma at 2 PM ET.
Following both live matchups on ESPN, No. 16 Kentucky will visit No. 5 Vanderbilt in a 4 PM ET clash on ESPN2.
Once-unbeaten Vanderbilt basketball is back in the groove, as the No. 5 Commodores recorded a second straight ranked win on Monday by handing No. 10 Oklahoma an emphatic 102-86 loss.
The Vanderbilt offense exploded for 59 first-half points — the most allowed by the Sooners in any half this season — with the Commodores taking a 26-point second-quarter lead behind sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes's game-high 34 points, marking her third consecutive 30-point performance.
Also joining the Commodores' 30-point club on Monday was guard Aubrey Galvan, with the freshman joining Blakes to become the first Vanderbilt duo to do so in the same game since 1999.
"I'm really proud of them," Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said afterwards. "What we're trying to do here is just be relentless in our quest to improve… so that we can put ourselves in position not only to win, but ultimately to be the best possible team we can be at the right time."
The Dores' defense also stepped up on Monday as Vanderbilt scored 26 points off turnovers, holding Oklahoma star freshman Aaliyah Chavez to just 14 points on the night — and 0-11 from deep.
Meanwhile, 19 points and 11 rebounds from Sooner center Raegan Beers — her 62nd career double-double — wasn't enough to move the needle as the senior fouled out with 4:26 to go off a season-high six turnovers.
Falling to 5-5 in the SEC basketball standings, Oklahoma will look to make up ground with just six games and two Top 25 opponents left on their 2025/26 regular-season docket.
How to watch Vanderbilt basketball this week
Though the No. 5 Commodores will contend with four ranked teams in their final five regular-season games, Vanderbilt's biggest test left is a Top 5 matchup against No. 4 Texas on Thursday.
The Dores will host the Longhorns at 7:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on SEC Network+.
No. 4 Texas defeated No. 5 LSU 77-64 on Thursday, as the Longhorns emerged victorious from the highly anticipated LSU vs Texas rematch at Moody Center.
Texas avenged their earlier 70-65 loss in Baton Rouge, while extending their home winning streak to 39 games — tied with TCU for the longest active streak in the nation.
Star forward Madison Booker led Texas with 18 points., while freshman Aaliyah Crump added 16 off the bench. The LSU vs Texas matchup got decisive in the fourth quarter with a 10-0 Texas run, as center Kyla Oldacre tallied six straight points to start the period to push the Longhorns' lead to 15 points with 5:01 remaining.
The LSU vs Texas game later turned historic, as senior guard Rori Harmon recorded six steals to become the program's all-time steals leader. She now has 351 career steals, surpassing Linda Waggoner's 45-year-old record of 346, set in 1980.
Harmon simultaneously reached 1,500 career points last night, becoming the 21st player in Texas history to achieve the milestone. In November, the 23-year-old became Texas's all-time assists leader with 894.
Harmon secured the record-breaking steal in the third quarter, diving to the floor while fighting two LSU players for a loose ball. She smiled while holding the ball tightly, knowing she had made history.
The LSU vs Texas showdown proved a defensive battle, with the Longhorns holding the Tigers to just 64 points. The Tigers entered averaging 98.9 points per game — topping the NCAA — while tallying 12 games with 100-plus points. However, Texas limited LSU to 11 points in the fourth quarter.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 21-3 overall and 7-3 in SEC play, snapping a seven-game winning streak. Conversely, Texas improved to 22-2 and 7-2 in conference play.