 | |
| Sport | College Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Venue | Varies |
| Broadcaster | ESPN |
| Sponsor | State Farm |
| Official website | https://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 2028. [3]
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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 four occasions, Michigan State in 2011, 2021, 2022 and 2024. Only ten of the games played in the classic have been won by 10 or more points. The schools have combined for 12 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 2025 games, Kansas and Duke are tied for the best records in the Champions Classic at 9–6, while Michigan State and Kentucky are each 6–9. Each team has at least one victory over each team in the classic. Kansas has a winning record vs each of the other three teams and Kentucky has a losing record vs each 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.