Ranking Big 12/SEC Challenge games using NCAA NET metric

The Big 12/SEC Challenge has turned frustrating for Big 12 basketball. The event began in 2014, and the Big 12 won the first three challenges. But the Big 12 has won just once since 2016 and leads only 4-3-2.

The 2023 Big 12/SEC Challenge returns Saturday, with 10 games, and the Big 12 ought to prosper. This is the final year for the challenge. It is not scheduled beyond 2023.

The Big 12 likes to claim it's the nation's best conference, and most college hoops observers agree this year.

The Big 12 has won the last two NCAA championships – Kansas 2022, Baylor 2021 – and dang near won the title before that, with Texas Tech in 2019. DeAndre Hunter's 3-point basket in the closing seconds of the championship game that year allowed Virginia to get into overtime, where the Cavaliers won.

This season, the Big 12 has six of the top 17 teams in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), the rankings used by the selection committee to gauge teams. And West Virginia is up to No. 24.

Meanwhile, the Southeastern Conference has just two teams ranked ahead of West Virginia – No. 2 Tennessee and No. 3 Alabama.

Here are the 10 Big 12/SEC Challenge games, ranked by competitiveness:

1. Texas at Tennessee, 5 p.m., ESPN: The Longhorns, No. 8 in the NET, go against Rick Barnes, who coached UT from 1998-2015 and now has the Volunteers riding high.

2. Arkansas at Baylor, 3 p.m., ESPN: Old Southwest Conference ri

vals. The Bears are 14th in the NET, the Razorbacks 26th.

3. Kansas at Kentucky, 7 p.m., ESPN: The bluebloods are headed in opposite directions. Kansas, No. 10 in the NET, has lost three straight and never has lost four straight in Bill Self 's 20 Jayhawk seasons. Kentucky is up to 32nd in the NET after scrambling from a horrid loss to South Carolina two weeks ago.

4. Auburn at West Virginia, 11 a.m., ESPN: The NET loves the Mountaineers, but Auburn is 33rd in the NET and has a much better record (164⁄12-8).

5. Iowa State at Missouri, 1 p.m., ESPN2: Old Big Eight rivals should put on a good show. ISU is ninth in the NET, Mizzou 49th.

6. Texas Christian at Mississippi State, 3 p.m., ESPN2: TCU is sizzling and up to No. 13 in the NET. Mississippi State is 59th. 7. Florida at Kansas State, 5 p.m., ESPN2: KSU star Keyontae Johnson transferred from Florida, where he also was a star until a heart ailment sidelined him for two seasons. K-State is 18th in the NET, Florida is 50th.

8. Alabama at Oklahoma, 1 p.m., ESPN: Rematch of the 2021 Big 12/SEC Challenge, when ninth-ranked Bama came to Norman and lost 66-61 despite the Sooners playing without star guard Austin Reaves. But OU, No. 65 in the NET, is reeling, while Bama is soaring.

9. Ole Miss at Oklahoma State, 7 p.m., ESPN2: The Cowboys, 47th in the NET, did not draw a tough assignment – the Rebels are 115th in the NET.

10. Texas Tech at Louisiana State, 1 p.m., ESPNU: The Red Raiders are huge disappointments, at 77th in the NET. But LSU is 133rd.

Knoxville, Tenn. WADE PAYNE/AP Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes talks to his players during a timeout in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game on Jan. 14 in