Auburn, Virginia Tech to face off in inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge

The Auburn Tigers will host the Virginia Tech Hokies in next season’s ACC/SEC Challenge, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

“Source: Auburn will host Virginia Tech in next season’s ACC/SEC Challenge,” tweeted Rothstein on Wednesday.

The report was later confirmed by ESPN, who tweeted out each matchup in all their glory, an exhilarating slate.

Continuing, the ACC/SEC Challenge figures to be one of the most exciting tournaments during next season’s campaign, and the showdown between the Tigers and the Hokies will embody that. Both squads are liable to go off any given night, and it’ll be fascinating to see who gets the better of the other come time.

Auburn center Dylan Cardwell announces decision to return to Tigers for 2023-2024

Meanwhile, Auburn center Dylan Cardwell will be playing against the Hokies for the Tigers, as he announced earlier this offseason that he’s withdrawn his name the 2023 NBA Draft and returning to school next season.

The announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering Cardwell’s production the past few seasons for the Tigers. Last year, he averaged 3.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assist per game.

He’s averaged under 16 minutes for his entire Tigers’ career thus far. As a defender, Cardwell has averaged over one block per game the past two seasons of his college basketball career. In the 2022-2023 season, Cardwell set a career-high for blocked shots in the first two games (George Mason and USF) of the season (five). 

As a freshman, he saw action in 27 games, but has since upped his playing level and is looking to do so once again in 2023.

Cardwell played his high school basketball for McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia). He was ranked as the No. 151 overall prospect in the country and a three-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2020 cycle.

In 2020-2021, Cardwell was also named as a first year SEC Academic Honor Roll member.