Vanderbilt to play TCU in 2018 Big 12/SEC Challenge

The matchups for the 2018 Big 12/SEC Challenge have been announced, and the Vanderbilt Commodores will host the TCU Horned Frogs on January 27, 2018, as part of the event.

TCU, the 2017 NIT Champions, went 24-15 in 2016-17 and finished the season ranked 29th in KenPom — four spots ahead of Vanderbilt. This is a sort of trollish matchup. TCU coach Jamie Dixon allegedly tampered with then-Vanderbilt player Sheldon Jeter, which led to Kevin Stallings blocking the transfer and sticking by his decision in spite of media pressure. And then, when Dixon took the TCU job, Kevin Stallings took the Pitt job. That allowed Vanderbilt to hire Bryce Drew, who some Pitt fans thought that Pitt should have hired instead of Kevin Stallings.

Okay, that’s about the best I can come up with for this matchup, other than ESPN sticking Vanderbilt against essentially its Big 12 doppelganger. This will be the sixth matchup ever between the Commodores and Horned Frogs. TCU won the first matchup in 1951-52 but Vanderbilt has won the last four, most recently in a 78-55 win at Memorial Gym on December 18, 2004.

This will be the fifth edition of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and Vanderbilt picked up its first win in the event in 2016-17 with a win over Iowa State. Previously, the Commodores had lost a pair of games to Texas in 2013-14 and 2015-16, and lost to Baylor in 2014-15.