The college basketball season is still more than five months away, but SEC and ACC fans had something to look forward to on Wednesday as ESPN announced the brackets for the annual SEC/ACC Challenge.

The University of Alabama and Auburn University will travel to take on two of the sports giants in the Challenge's highlight game.

Alabama will face the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, reprising a team they beat in last season's Sweet Sixteen.

The Crimson Tide is 6-7 all-time against UNC but is currently on a two-game winning streak in the series. The Tar Heels easily beat the Tide in the Bahamas in 2019, but Alabama got revenge in 2022, beating the then-No. 1 ranked Tar Heels in four overtime games.

Auburn, meanwhile, will get the chance to play in perhaps the most notorious away environment in sports, traveling to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Tigers have played Duke four times and lost each time, with the only meeting between the two teams in the 21st century coming in 2018 in Maui, when No. 8 Auburn suffered a heartbreaking loss to the top-ranked Blue Devils, led by Zion Williamson.

Both SEC/ACC Challenge games will be played on Dec. 4, 2024.

“I'm not sure exactly what this opportunity means for the Auburn University basketball team,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “To be selected by ESPN and our conference to play against one of the greatest teams in college basketball history is a great validation of where our team is right now, but it's also a great responsibility.”

Other featured matchups in the challenge include Arkansas taking on the Hurricanes in Miami, Syracuse taking on Tennessee in Knoxville and Virginia taking on Florida in Gainesville.

Last season in this tournament, Alabama lost to Clemson in Tuscaloosa and Auburn beat Virginia Tech.

Michael Browner is a senior sports analyst and contributor to Yellow Hammer News. You can follow him on Twitter. translation: Listen to him weekdays from 6am to 9am. WNSP-FM 105.5's “Opening Kickoff” Available online for free.