LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky men’s basketball team is set to take on Ohio State in this year’s CBS Sports Classic on Saturday, Dec. 18. In an email to Spectrum News 1, UK Athletics confirmed the site has not yet been determined.
The Wildcats and the Buckeyes will face off after the UCLA-UNC game, which is slated for 3 p.m. ET that day.
Kentucky was originally slated to take on North Carolina this season, but due to COVID-19 testing protocols, the teams met last season. The Wildcats will instead take on the Buckeyes in this year’s edition of the annual event.
December’s tip-off will mark the eighth straight season of the CBS Sports Classic. UNC boasts a 5-2 record in the event. Ohio State is 4-3, Kentucky is 3-4 and UCLA is 2-5.
The Buckeyes are coming off a 21-10 season with Chris Holtmann in his fifth season at the helm. Ohio State will return six of its top eight scorers from a team that earned a No. 2 seed in the last NCAA Tournament.
The CBS Sports Classic is an annual affair that brings together four of the nation’s most successful college basketball programs. The quartet owns a combined 26 national championships – with UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight) and North Carolina (six) ranking first, second and third, respectively – in NCAA history. Additionally, all four programs rank in the top six in all time Final Four berths, compiling 65 total appearances between them (North Carolina, 20; UCLA, 18; Kentucky, 17; Ohio State, 10).
In addition to taking on Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic, UK has already announced nonconference matchups vs. Duke on Nov. 9 in the Champions Classic in New York, a road game at Michigan on Dec. 4, a meeting against Notre Dame on Dec. 11 and a matchup at Kansas on Jan. 29 as a part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Officials said additional nonconference matchups and the full slate of SEC games will be announced at a later date.
