The first night of the second-annual SEC/ACC Challenge came with plenty of thrills.
The second night of the inter-conference competition will see nine teams ranked in the AP top 25 in action, with three games featuring matchups between ranked opponents. And two of those games will pit a pair of teams in the top 10 against each other: No. 4 Texas (7-0) vs. No. 10 Notre Dame (5-2) in South Bend (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and No. 8 Duke (8-1) vs. No. 3 South Carolina (7-1) in Columbia (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).
So, with apologies to No. 14 Kentucky (7-0) and No. 16 North Carolina (7-1), who will meet in Chapel Hill (5 p.m. ET, ESPN2), No. 18 Ole Miss (5-2), who faces NC State (4-3) in Raleigh (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2), No. 5 LSU (9-0), who will welcome Stanford (7-1) to the Bayou (9 p.m. ET, ESPN), and No. 19 Alabama (9-0), who will travel to Berkeley to meet Cal (7-1), the two top-10 tilts will occupy most of our attention.
Will Texas send Notre Dame to a third-straight L?
All eyes will be on Notre Dame. Losers of two-straight games in the Cayman Islands, the pressure will be on the Irish to avoid a three-game skid and secure a home win. However, Texas is not the opponent Notre Dame wants to see marching into Purcell Pavilion.
After starting the season 6-0 against mostly uninspiring opponents,…
