The State Farm Champions Classic, perhaps the signature annual event of the college basketball regular season, will continue through 2022 with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State.
The Champions Classic, a neutral-site doubleheader featuring UK, Duke, Kansas and Michigan State, has added three more years to the current series, which will be played in Indianapolis this season and New York next year. The additional three years will bring the event back to Chicago in 2020, New York in 2021 and Indianapolis in 2022.
Kentucky, which will play Duke on Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to tip off the season, will get Michigan State in 2019, Kansas in 2020, Duke in 2021 and Michigan State in 2022.
Some 70 NBA scouts are expected Tuesday.
The Champions Classic agreement between Michigan State, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas has been extended through 2022. Same format. Future dates … pic.twitter.com/TMrzphifrN
— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) November 5, 2018
“The Champions Classic has been the gold standard for college basketball’s regular-season events for the last seven years, but I love what we’re doing to use it to tip off the basketball season,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “What better thing for our sport than to begin the year with four of the most successful programs in college basketball.”
The event has been one of the most-watched collegiate events since its inception in 2011 with millions of fans tuning in every year. The series, which pits four programs that have a combined 18 national championships, 56 Final Four appearances and four Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coaches, has been tightly bunched. UK and Duke are tied with 4-3 records while Kansas and Michigan State are just a game behind at 3-4.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
