There was a period when the Champions Classic was the signature event of what amounted to college basketball's Opening Day -- but it's not anymore. Instead, we now start every season in a lesser way, this year with a game between unranked opponents played on a Sunday in Europe while most American sports fans were busy finalizing their fantasy football lineups. Other non-college sports that generate this kind of attention and revenue always launch their seasons with big matchups designed to drum up interest -- but those sports have people looking out for the greater good.
Unfortunately, college basketball really doesn't. So the NFL season launches with a Super Bowl rematch between the Patriots and Seahawks in prime time, and the college basketball season launches with unranked Notre Dame vs. unranked Villanova at 9:30 a.m. The Champions Classic is no longer on the first day of the season.
This year, it's on the 10th day -- more specifically, Tuesday night in Chicago. Those are the schools ranked No. 2, No. 5, No. 15 and No. 24, respectively, in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. So this is a high-level doubleheader featuring two Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coaches (Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Kansas' Bill Self), the CBS Sports Preseason National Player of the Year (Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr), the projected No. 1 pick of the 2027 NBA Draft (Kansas' Tyran Stokes), and another player who is among the leading candidates to be the No. 1 pick in the 2028 NBA Draft (Duke's Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje).
On the sideline, heralded coaches. On the court, elite prospects. It should be a fun night at the United Center.
Can Izzo and Fears get Michigan State past Duke's roster that is the sport's most talented? Or will the Blue Devils improve to 16-3 all-time vs. Can Self and Stokes get the kind of early-season win that suggests Kansas won't be falling short of the Sweet 16 come March for what would be the fifth straight year?
Or will Kentucky coach Mark Pope cool his seat with an upset of the Jayhawks?
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