The annual Champions Classic has been renewed and will continue through the 2019 season.
This means that the Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, Kansas Jayhawks, and Michigan State Spartans will continue their doubleheader series through the 2019 season.
"We're excited and honored to be a part of the Champions Classic for another three years," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said in a press release. "It's become one of the premier college basketball events on the national schedule every year.
"You're talking about four blueblood programs playing on a neutral, NCAA Tournament-like stage. I know our fans love traveling to those cities. It's always a tough way for a young team like ours to face those types of teams that early, but it's a great opportunity for us to learn and to prepare for that type of environment down the road."
The doubleheader event will be played in Chicago (2017), Indianapolis (2018) and New York (2019). This year's sixth edition of the event is slated for Nov. 15 in Madison Square Garden. Kentucky will take on Michigan State at 7 p.m. Duke and Kansas will follow.
The Champions Classic features three of the top four all-time winningest college basketball programs, including UK. The four schools in the event have combined for 18 NCAA championships and 57 Final Four appearances.
It also features one of the biggest beatdowns that Kansas has ever suffered.
Good times.
Here is a glance at all of the future matchups in this series:
Date |
Matchups |
City |
Arena |
Nov. 15, 2016 |
Michigan State vs. Kentucky |
New York |
Madison Square Garden |
Nov. 14, 2017 |
Kansas vs. Kentucky |
Chicago |
United Center |
Nov. 13, 2018 |
Duke vs. Kentucky |
Indianapolis |
Bankers Life Fieldhouse |
Nov. 12, 2019 |
Michigan State vs. Kentucky |
New York |
Madison Square Garden |