Champions Classic
SportCollege Basketball
Founded2011
No. of teams4
Venue(s)Varies
TV partner(s)ESPN
Sponsor(s)State Farm
Official websitehttps://espnevents.com/champions-classic

The Champions Classic is an event that tips off the NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It features four of the top college basketball programs in the United States: Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan State.[1] The venue changes from year to year, with Madison Square Garden being the first venue. The first Classic was held on November 15, 2011. This would be the beginning of a three-year rotation, originally scheduled to end in 2013, where each of the teams would play each other once. The event is televised on ESPN.[2] The series is set to run through 2025.[3]

The series was started as an early-season match-up of the nation's best and most consistent basketball programs[4] as evidenced by the fact that all four teams have been ranked for every competition except on three occasions, Michigan State in 2011, 2021, and 2022. Only eight of the games played in the classic have been won more 10 or more points. The schools have combined for 9 National Championships, 37 Final Fours, and 21 National Championship game appearances since 1988. Three of the four teams from the 2014 event advanced to the 2015 Final Four (Duke, Kentucky, and Michigan State) with Duke winning the National Championship that year. The 2019 games featured the schools ranked first, second, third, and fourth in both the AP and Coaches polls.[5] From 2017 to 2021, all four teams were coached by members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; Bill Self of Kansas was the last of the four coaches inducted in 2017, Mike Krzyzewski retired at the end of the 2021–22 season.

As of the conclusion of the 2023 games, Duke and Kansas have the best record in the Champions Classic at 8–5, followed by Kentucky and Michigan State at 5–8. Each team has at least one victory over each team in the classic, and Kansas is the only team that does not have a losing record to one of the other three teams. Only once has a game gone into overtime, in 2022 when Michigan State defeated Kentucky. The most points scored was 118 by Duke in 2018, while the fewest was 40 by Kansas in 2014. The largest margin of defeat was 34 points when Duke defeated Kentucky 118–84 in 2018. The closest game was a Kansas victory over Duke by 2 points (77–75) in 2016.

Game results

Rankings are based on the Associated Press poll.

DateLocationWinning teamLosing teamAttendance
November 15, 2011 Madison Square Garden
(New York, NY)		 No. 6 Duke74 Michigan State6919,979
No. 2 Kentucky75 No. 12 Kansas65
November 13, 2012 Georgia Dome
(Atlanta, GA)		 No. 21 Michigan State67 No. 7 Kansas6422,847
No. 9 Duke75 No. 3 Kentucky68
November 12, 2013 United Center
(Chicago, IL)		 No. 2 Michigan State78 No. 1 Kentucky7422,711
No. 5 Kansas94 No. 4 Duke83
November 18, 2014 Bankers Life Fieldhouse
(Indianapolis, IN)		 No. 4 Duke81 No. 19 Michigan State7119,306
No. 1 Kentucky72 No. 5 Kansas40
November 17, 2015 United Center
(Chicago, IL)		 No. 2 Kentucky74 No. 5 Duke6321,461
No. 13 Michigan State79 No. 4 Kansas73
November 15, 2016 Madison Square Garden
(New York, NY)		 No. 2 Kentucky69 No. 13 Michigan State4819,812[6]
No. 7 Kansas77 No. 1 Duke75
November 14, 2017 United Center
(Chicago, IL)		 No. 1 Duke88 No. 2 Michigan State8121,684
No. 4 Kansas65 No. 7 Kentucky61
November 6, 2018 Bankers Life Fieldhouse
(Indianapolis, IN)		 No. 1 Kansas92 No. 10 Michigan State8719,584
No. 4 Duke118 No. 2 Kentucky84
November 5, 2019 Madison Square Garden
(New York, NY)		 No. 4 Duke68 No. 3 Kansas6619,812
No. 2 Kentucky69 No. 1 Michigan State62
December 1, 2020 Cameron Indoor Stadiuma

(Durham, NC)

 No. 8 Michigan State75 No. 6 Duke690b
Bankers Life Fieldhousea
(Indianapolis, IN)		 No. 7 Kansas65 No. 20 Kentucky620b
November 9, 2021 Madison Square Garden
(New York, NY)		 No. 3 Kansas87 Michigan State7418,132
No. 9 Duke79 No. 10 Kentucky71
November 15, 2022 Gainbridge Fieldhouse
(Indianapolis, IN)		 No. 6 Kansas69 No. 7 Duke6417,923
Michigan State862OT No. 4 Kentucky77
November 14, 2023 United Center
(Chicago, IL)		 No. 9 Duke 74 No. 18 Michigan State 65 18,780
No. 1 Kansas 89 No. 17 Kentucky 84
  • a Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicting safety protocols between the various conferences, Michigan State played its Champions Classic game at Duke while Kentucky and Kansas played in Indianapolis.[7]
  • b No attendance due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Future match-ups

DateLocationMatch-ups
2024State Farm Arena
(Atlanta, GA)		Kansas vs. Michigan State
Kentucky vs Duke
2025TBDMichigan State vs Kentucky
Kansas vs. Duke

Head-to-head records

  Duke Kansas Kentucky Michigan State
vs. Duke –3–11–31–4
vs. Kansas 1–3–2–32–2
vs. Kentucky 3–13–2–2–2
vs. Michigan State 4–12–22–2–
Total 8–58–55–85–8

References

  1. ↑ Katz, Andy (December 8, 2010). "Marquee programs to meet early". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  2. ↑ "New Event Pits Four of Basketball's Winningest Programs". Duke Sports Information. December 8, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  3. ↑ "State Farm Champions Classic Renewed for Three More Years". ESPNPressRoom.com.
  4. ↑ "This Champions Classic gives us the greatest opening night in the history of college basketball". CBSsports.com. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  5. ↑ "Reactions to the College Basketball Preseason AP Top 25 Poll: Is This the Best Champions Classic Ever?". Stadium. 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  6. ↑ Champions Classic [@championclassic] (November 17, 2016). "19,812 came out to see a great start to the college basketball season at @TheGarden. #ChampionsClassic" (Tweet) – via Twitter./photo/1
  7. ↑ Crawford, Kirkland. "Michigan State basketball at Duke reportedly to play Dec. 1 in Champions Classic". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
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