KU vs. Duke

 As some of you may or may not know, this year’s Champions Classic will be taking place on the evening of Tuesday, November 12^th.  In what should be an awesome early-season double header, KU is playing Duke, and Michigan State is taking on Kentucky at the United Center in Chicago.

Unfortunately, I will be in a meeting Wednesday morning while the games are going on, but I am recording and watching both of them when I get home from work Wednesday evening.  So, please, please do not text / email / communicate in any way, shape or form with me regarding the outcomes of the games. Most of you probably wouldn't anyway, but just wanted to make sure.

Some other factoids about Tuesday night’s games according to ESPN in case you were interested:

• It will be the first time that four top-five teams in The Associated Press poll will play in the same doubleheader at the same venue since the 2008 Final Four, when all four No. 1 seeds (Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis) played in San Antonio

• The Kentucky-Michigan State game is the first match-up of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the AP Poll since Feb. 23, 2008 (Memphis vs. Tennessee).

• It will be the earliest matchup of the top two teams in college basketball history, which was previously the Indiana-UCLA game on Nov. 29, 1975.

• The two top-rated recruits in the ESPN 100 class will square off, with KU’s Andrew Wiggins facing Duke’s Jabari Parker. The fact that their game is being played in Parker’s home town of Chicago adds another layer of intrigue.  This will be a great test to see if Andrew Wiggins can live up to the crazy amount of hype that’s been piled on him.

• In all, these schools combined to grab eight of the top 10 and 11 of the top 15 freshman recruits on the ESPN list. Kentucky’s haul, which includes No. 3 Julius Randle, No. 5 Andrew Harrison, No. 7 Dakari Johnson, No. 8 James Young, No. 9 Aaron Harrison, is widely considered the top recruiting class in history. 

• The four coaches, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari of Kentucky, Bill Self of Kansas and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, have combined for 2,471 wins, 23 Final Four appearances and seven national championships.

In summary, this year’s Champions Classic is a college basketball fan’s wet dream.  I think I am almost as amped up as this guy (except it’s for KU…and for basketball).  I’m gonna get a good white base coat going, and if Krzyzewski wears a visor it’s coming off!

Jill’s going to be in Beijing for work, too, which means I can release as many profanity-laced tirades at the TV as I want to with no fear of retribution.

Let's do this Jayhawks!

All that being said, and as big a game as this is, this game's significance is nothing compared to the sacrifices our Veterans make for our country.  Here's to you, Veterans.

Til Next Time,
Luke