On late Thursday night, the matchups for the ACC/SEC basketball challenge were revealed. There are several notable matchups in this challenge, like Arkansas vs UNC, Auburn vs Clemson, Duke vs Florida, Syracuse vs Oklahoma, Alabama vs Miami, and Kentucky vs Virginia. The Yellow Jackets are slated to play Mississippi State for the second consecutive season. Georgia Tech will look like a new team with head coach Scott Cross coming in for his first season with the program. We take a look at some early thoughts on the matchup. NEWS: Matchups for the 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge are set, per sources.Ark @ UNCAU @ ClemDuke @ UFBC @ UGAWake @ LSUPitt @ MizzSU @ OUOleMiss @ VTSC@NCStFSU @ TennTexas @ LvilleBama @ Miami UK @ UVA GT @ MissStStanford @ A&MVandy @ NDhttps://t.co/CH4tXkiAal— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 5, 20261. Revenge While this is a new coaching regime, it is an opportunity for the Yellow Jackets to avenge their 85-73 loss to the Bulldogs last season. Both rosters will look completely different, with the Yellow Jackets bringing in seven new players and seven leaving via the transfer portal. The only returnees are Cole Kirouac and Kam Craft. Mississippi State brought in six new players, with one of the top additions being RJ Johnson from Kennesaw State. Georgia Tech's top addition from the portal is point guard Colby Garland from San Jose State. Two different rosters, but the goal remains the same for the Yellow Jackets, which is securing a win and avenging a loss. 2. An opportunity for a quality win Regardless of whether Mississippi State is good next season, winning the game for the Yellow Jackets could do wonders for the conference and help the ACC as a whole in its evaluation. Last year, the SEC won the challenge 9-7 over the ACC. While the ACC was much improved and got more teams into the tournament last season, defeating the ACC would prove they are here to stay and would be a good conference in 2026-2027. Going back to Georgia Tech, this game would be on the road at Mississippi State, so depending on the NET ranking for the Bulldogs, they would just have to be in the top 75, and it could be a chance for an early Quad 1 win. With the tournament expanding to 76 teams now, it opens the door for more opportunities, especially for the Yellow Jackets. If they can win some of these challenges, they should be in a position to make the tournament. The teams will face off on December 2nd, per Jon Rothstein. 3. How good will the new-look Yellow Jackets be? It is tough to say how good Georgia Tech will be next season, but one thing is for sure: they are very talented. You look at their 2026 class, and they were able to retain the majority of their commits and brought in the No.36 class in the country with multiple blue-chip prospects. They were also active in the portal, bringing in six new additions, with one of the more intriguing prospects to watch being Tylis Jordan, who comes over from Ole Miss. They also have the two aforementioned returners from a year ago. It feels like with the assistant coaches they have, the talent, and the development, this should be a competitive team in year one under Cross. This game against Mississippi State in December will show how far away they are or how close they are to being a formidable team. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow