Virginia Tech men's basketball to host two former teammates in ACC/SEC Challenge

For the second straight season, the ACC and SEC will square off in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Last season, the Virginia Tech men traveled to Auburn and dropped a 74-57 decision to the talented Tigers.

This season, the Hokies will host the 2024-25 version of the ACC/SEC Challenge and they'll be doing it, by welcoming back a pair of key players off of their team this past season that entered the transfer portal.

Virginia Tech to host Vanderbilt in the 2024-25 ACC/SEC Challenge

One of the biggest stories following the Hokies' second-round elimination at the hands of Ohio State in the NIT was the mass exodus out of Blacksburg that Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young and his staff went through. Sean Pedulla, MJ Collins, Tyler Nickel, Mylyjael Poteat, and Lynn Kidd all entered the transfer portal and after three days, Poteat returned to the Hokies and will play his final season at Cassell Coliseum.

All the other players left for other programs with three players ending up in the SEC and one at Miami in the ACC. Pedulla ended up at Ole Miss, while Nickel and Collins both transferred to Vanderbilt, who the Hokies will host in this season's challenge, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Vanderbilt will play their first season under former James Madison coach Mark Byington who like Virginia Tech, has added some key pieces in the transfer portal and is replacing Jerry Stackhouse. Collins became a key player for the Hokies in the second half of the season at both ends of the floor, while Nickel was a key shooter off the bench for Young.

The ACC/SEC Challenge had an opportunity to have Texas A&M visit Blacksburg with former Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams in charge at College Station, but instead, it'll be the Commodores making the trip.