Kentucky vs. Michigan State draws early Champions Classic slot -- and tickets are on sale!

NCAA Basketball: Kentucky at Michigan State — Nov 5, 2019; New York, NY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Tyrese Maxey (3) reacts after defeating the Michigan State Spartans at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

How about a second tip-off time announced for the Kentucky Wildcats — and a second in the early slot? We already learned that Mark Pope‘s matchup vs. Rick Pitino and the St. John’s Red Storm in the CBS Sports Classic would begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on December 20 at State Farm Arena. Now, we know the Cats will take on the Spartans in the first game of the Champions Classic.

Kentucky vs. Michigan State will tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 18 at Madison Square Garden. From there, Kansas vs. Duke in the late slot at 9 p.m. ET.

Tickets are available now using promo code 15YEARS to access presale options through the event — or you can use UKCHAMPS for Kentucky’s team-specific tickets. Public tickets go on sale at Noon ET on Sept. 24, available here.

Kentucky and Michigan State have split the Champions Classic series with two wins apiece. The Spartans earned the very first win back in 2013 with a 78-74 upset in Chicago, followed by back-to-back wins for the Wildcats in 2016 (69-48) and 2019 (69-62) — both inside Madison Square Garden in NYC. MSU returned the favor with a double-overtime win over UK in 2022, an 86-77 victory for Tom Izzo’s squad in Indianapolis.

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UK leads the all-time series 14-12 dating back to 1935 with Izzo 6-4 against the Wildcats since 1999.

Overall, the Wildcats are just 6-8 in the Champions Classic, which started back in 2011. They are 2-2 against MSU, 2-3 against Kansas and 2-3 against Duke, this matchup marking the first opportunity to potentially earn a winning record against an opponent in the event. No better place to do it than Madison Square Garden after a letdown performance in the historic building — and Pope’s favorite outside of Rupp Arena — a year ago, taking an 85-65 loss to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic back on Dec. 21, 2024.

“The Ohio State loss was so painful because it was in Madison Square Garden. It was probably our poorest performance of the season, credit to them,” Pope said this offseason. “But that building — to rub it in, that building is probably the second-most special building to me in the world. The fact that we performed so poorly in that building, in that city, was really hard.”

Kentucky sits at No. 7 overall in The Field of 68’s Preseason Top 25 while Michigan State is currently unranked.

Kentucky Basketball’s 2025-26 Schedule

Date (Day)	Opponent	Location
Oct. 11, 2025 (Sat)	Big Blue Madness (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Oct. 24, 2025 (Fri)	Purdue (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Oct. 30, 2025 (Thu)	Georgetown (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 4, 2025 (Tue)	Nicholls (BBN United Tipoff Classic)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 7, 2025 (Fri)	Valparaiso (BBN United Tipoff Classic)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 11, 2025 (Tue)	at Louisville	KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, Ky.)
Nov. 14, 2025 (Fri)	Eastern Illinois (BBN United Tipoff Classic)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 18, 2025 (Tue): 6:30 PM ET	vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic)	Madison Square Garden (New York)
Nov. 21, 2025 (Fri)	Loyola (Md.)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 26, 2025 (Wed)	Tennessee Tech	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 2, 2025 (Tue)	North Carolina (ACC/SEC Challenge)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 5, 2025 (Fri)	vs. Gonzaga	Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tenn.)
Dec. 9, 2025 (Tue)	North Carolina Central	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 13, 2025 (Sat)	Indiana	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 20, 2025 (Sat): 12:30 PM ET	vs. St. John’s (CBS Sports Classic)	State Farm Arena (Atlanta)
Dec. 23, 2025 (Tue)	Bellarmine	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 3, 2026 (Sat)	at Alabama (SEC)	Coleman Coliseum (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Jan. 6/7, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	Missouri (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 10, 2026 (Sat)	Mississippi State (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 13/14, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	at LSU (SEC)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, La.)
Jan. 17, 2026 (Sat)	at Tennessee (SEC)	Thompson-Boling Arena (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Jan. 20/21, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	Texas (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 24, 2026 (Sat)	Ole Miss (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 27/28, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	at Vanderbilt (SEC)	Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville, Tenn.)
Jan. 31, 2026 (Sat)	at Arkansas (SEC)	Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Feb. 3, 2026 (Tue)	Oklahoma (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 7, 2026 (Sat)	Tennessee (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 14, 2026 (Sat)	at Florida (SEC)	Exactech Arena (Gainesville, Fla.)
Feb. 17/18, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	Georgia (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 21, 2026 (Sat)	at Auburn (SEC)	Neville Arena (Auburn, Ala.)
Feb. 24/25, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	at South Carolina (SEC)	Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, S.C.)
Feb. 28, 2026 (Sat)	Vanderbilt (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Mar. 3/4, 2026 (Tue/Wed)	at Texas A&M (SEC)	Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)
Mar. 7, 2026 (Sat)	Florida (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center