# Kentucky women's basketball hosting Clemson in SEC/ACC Challenge **Published:** 2026-06-05T14:30:31.000Z **Source:** [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/kentucky-women-s-basketball-hosting-clemson-in-sec-acc-challenge LEXINGTON, Ky. — [The University of Kentucky women's basketball team will play host to Clemson on Thursday, Dec. 3 at Rupp Arena in Central Bank Center](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/) as part of the fourth-annual Southeastern Conference/Atlantic Coast Conference Challenge. The matchup features an intriguing coaching connection. [Head coach Kenny Brooks brought Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons](https://ukathletics.com/news/2024/03/26/kenny-brooks-named-kentucky-womens-basketball-head-coach/) and was named the 2025 Sporting News National Coach of the Year after orchestrating a historic turnaround with the Wildcats. Clemson head coach Shawn Poppie worked as an assistant coach under Brooks at Virginia Tech, where [he helped lead the Hokies' turnaround to a top-ten national program](https://clemsontigers.com/staff/shawn-poppie/) from 2016 to 2021. Kentucky and Clemson will meet for just the second time in program history and the first time since the turn of the millennium. [Clemson leads Kentucky, 1-0, in the all-time series following a 70-65 victory on Nov. 26, 1999](https://www.tigernet.com/clemson-basketball/news/accsec-challenge-matchups-announced-48943), in the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge at Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut. The Wildcats are hosting the SEC/ACC Challenge for the first time in three seasons. [Kentucky has a 2-1 record in SEC/ACC Challenges, defeating Boston College at home in 2023-24 before falling at ranked North Carolina in 2024-25](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/). Tip time and network designation for the matchup will be announced at a later date. [Fans interested in new season tickets can now place a deposit at no cost to secure their spot in line for women's basketball's home campaign in 2026-27](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/). [Kentucky announced it will also play host to Louisville at Rupp Arena on Dec. 9](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/), and will compete in the Ally Tipoff against NC State later in the season. ## Sources - [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/) - [Kenny Brooks hired as Kentucky women's basketball head coach](https://ukathletics.com/news/2024/03/26/kenny-brooks-named-kentucky-womens-basketball-head-coach/) - [Shawn Poppie named Clemson women's basketball head coach](https://clemsontigers.com/staff/shawn-poppie/) - [TigerNet report on 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge matchups](https://www.tigernet.com/clemson-basketball/news/accsec-challenge-matchups-announced-48943) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/06/05/kentucky-clemson-womens-basketball-to-play-sec-acc-challenge-on-dec-3-at-rupp-arena/.