ACC-SEC basketball challenge: Georgia Men's and women's basketball teams announce their participation in the annual event
The Georgia Bulldogs men's and women's teams found out their opponents for the 2023 ACC/SEC basketball challenge on Wednesday.
The games between Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference teams will be played on Nov. 29 and 30.
This will be the first-of-its-kind event, and Georgia will travel to Tallahassee to face Florida State. While this will be the 30th matchup for these teams, the last time the Bulldogs met the Seminoles was 41 years ago.
The Seminoles hold a 19-10 record over the Bulldogs, which stands at 9-3 in Tallahassee, putting Georgia up against a whole lot of history.
In the Baha Mar Bahamas championship beforehand, on Nov. 17, the Bulldogs will face two other ACC opponents. First up will be Wake Forest followed by Georgia Tech.
The women's team will host Duke at the Stegeman Coliseum on Nov. 30 in their ACC/SEC challenge game. They have never faced Duke in the regular season, but this will be their fifth meeting overall.
Their last meeting came in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, and the Blue Devils are unbeaten against the Bulldogs with a 4-0 record.
The rise of Georgia Bulldogs' basketball
The Bulldogs' men's and women's teams both got new coaches last season.
Mike White helped reverse a negative win-loss ratio from 6-26 to 16-16 last season, showing a marked improvement.
The roster has a healthy mix of new blood and returnees from last year. It features six returning players, five freshmen and five transfers. On3 ranks the freshman class and the transfers among the top 20 in the nation, giving Bulldogs fans room for optimism.
The women's team was led by Katie Abrahamson-Henderson to a 22-12 record last season. They had a 10-8 record in the SEC and lost to eventual national champion LSU in the second round of the conference tournament.
They beat Florida State, a Power Five program, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They then lost out to the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round.
They were eliminated in postseason play by two of the most recognizable and talented faces in college women's basketball currently: Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.
The women's team roster is more stable than the men's. They have nine players returning from last season. The only downside is that they lost veteran forward Brittney Smith and guard Diamond Battles, their top scorers last season.
With both Bulldogs teams looking much improved, 2023-2024 promises to be an interesting season for Georgia fans.