🏀 No. 1 Kansas to Face No. 17 Kentucky in Champions Classic Nov. 14

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 1 Kansas (2-0) will face No. 17 Kentucky (2-0) in the State Farm Champions Classic, Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 8:30 p.m. (Central). The contest from the United Center in Chicago will be televised on ESPN.

TIPOFF

• Kansas and Kentucky are the top-two winningest programs in college basketball history.
• Kansas is 2-0 after its 99-61 win against Manhattan College on Nov. 10 in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks are 2-0 for the 12th time in head coach Bill Self’s 21 seasons at KU. Kentucky is also 2-0 after its 81-61 home win against Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 10.
• The Champions Classic began in the 2011-12 season. Kansas is 7-5 in the Champions Classic and the Jayhawks have won six of their last seven appearances in the event after last year’s 69-64 win against Duke in Indianapolis. Duke is 7-5 in the Champions Classic, while Kentucky is 5-7 and Michigan State 5-7.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series with Kansas, 24-11, and this will be the 11th time in the last 13 seasons these two blue bloods will meet (since 2011-12). Kansas has won five of the last seven meetings. The series is tied at 2-2 in the Champions Classic.
• Kansas’ and Kentucky’s home facilities are named after Kansas greats. Kentucky’s Rupp Arena is named after Adolph Rupp, a KU graduate who played at Kansas in 1923 under coach F.C. “Phog” Allen, of which Allen Fieldhouse is named. Rupp was a member of the 1922 and 1923 Helms Foundation National Championship teams while at Kansas.
• Though its only two games, Kansas leads the nation in field goal percentage at 62.6% and is second in assists per game at 29.5.
• KU won its mind-boggling 51st-straight home opener, 99-56 against North Carolina Central on Nov. 6. The streak began in 1973-74 under coach Ted Owens. KU coaches Larry Brown (5-0) and Roy Williams (15-0) never lost a home opener. KU is 21-0 in home openers under Bill Self.
• Kansas posted a 28-8 overall record in 2022-23 and won the Big 12 regular-season title with a 13-5 league mark.
• Kansas is No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the fourth time in poll history, with all coming four in the Bill Self era – 2004-05, 2009-10, 2018-19 and 2023-24.
• KU has been ranked in the AP top 10 in each of the last 39 polls dating back to the 2021-22 preseason poll. The 39 consecutive is the longest active streak in men’s college basketball.
• Including 2023-24, Kansas has been the Big 12 coaches’ choice to win the league 20 times in the 27-year history of the conference.
• Kansas is celebrating 126 years of men’s basketball in 2023-24.

UP NEXT

Kansas will face Chaminade in the opening round of the 2023 Allstate Maui Invitational, Monday, Nov. 20, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game from the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa will be televised on ESPNU. Kansas will play either Marquette or UCLA in the second round on Nov. 21.

KU is 4-0 against Chaminade with all four meetings coming in the Maui Invitational. The Jayhawks last faced the Silverswords in the opening round of the 2019 Maui Invitational, a KU 93-63 win. Kansas went on to win the 2019 Maui Invitational.

KU is 17-6 all-time in the Maui Invitational, including 15-6 in games played in Hawaii. KU has won the event three times, including each of its last two trips in 2015 and 2019. Kansas also won the 1996 Maui Invitational. KU will be making is fifth appearance in the Maui Invitational under coach Bill Self.