The Ole Miss men’s basketball team is back in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and will host Kansas State on January 29, 2022. The Rebels and Wildcats will face off in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss as part of the ninth annual battle between the two premier college basketball conferences.

All 10 of the Big 12’s teams and 10 of the SEC’s 14 member institutions will participate in this season’s event. Each of the 10 SEC teams that participate in the 2022 Challenge will be a part of the 2023 event.

The SEC won the 2021 SEC/Big 12 Challenge by winning five of the nine games played. The SEC holds a 25-24 advantage over the last five years of the event.

The 2022 matchup will be the third time Ole Miss and Kansas State will battle in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Wildcats protected their home floor in the first challenge meeting, 61-58 (Dec. 5, 2013). Two seasons later, K-State invaded Oxford and escaped with a 69-64 victory (Jan. 30, 2016).

Overall, the Rebels hold a 3-2 advantage against the Wildcats with all five matchups occurring in the 21st century. Ole Miss won the first three meetings, starting with a 60-46 victory during the Rebels’ run to the Sweet Sixteen (Dec. 5, 2001). The following season, Ole Miss went to Manhattan, Kansas and claimed a narrow 67-65 win (Nov. 24, 2001). In the semifinals of the 2009 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Nov. 20, 2009), the Rebels advanced to the championship game with a 86-74 victory over Kansas State.

This will be the seventh year that a bye in the league schedule for participating teams was created to accommodate the single-day format. The first two years of the challenge were played over several days in November and December but the last six events have been consolidated to one single day in January. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise the contests.

Start times and network designations will be announced at a later date.