Champions Classic is the Final Four in November and this year’s field is loaded again

Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and Michigan State will all be in the same building for the fifth straight year on Tuesday night when the Champions Classic tips off in Chicago. College basketball season may have started on Friday, but the annual meeting of four of the best programs in the country has started to feel like the unofficial opening of each new season.

The event has been billed as the ‘Final Four in November’ and last season that was nearly a literal statement and not just a marketing slogan. Kansas was the only team from last year’s Classic to miss the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Since it’s inception in the 2011-12 season, the field has produced six Final Four teams and two national champions.

There is no better chance to see the top talent in the country under one roof. This is as good as college basketball gets until March. Here are 10 things to watch for on Tuesday night.

Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns are just a few of the players who have starred at this event in previous years. This year’s field will be no exception with three possible top picks on display -- not counting Kansas big man Cheick Diallo, who has yet to be cleared by the NCAA:

Kentucky guard Jamal Murray: Murray has been on fire since winning MVP at the Nike Hoops Summit in April. His breakout performance at that event compelled him to reclassify up a year so he could play college basketball this season. The 6’4 combo guard can score from anywhere on the court and has the ability to manufacture his own shot off the dribble as well as any player in the country. DraftExpress currently has him pegged at No. 6.

Duke wing Brandon Ingram: Ingram was among the youngest recruits in the class of 2015, but his long-term potential is through the roof. A skinny 6’10, 190-pound wing, Ingram likes to shoot from the outside and is an explosive leaper. He scored 21 points on 11 shots (4-of-6 from three) in Duke’s win over Bryant on Sunday.

The biggest question for Duke this season is if Mike Krzyzewski will continue his recent trend of playing small or if he’ll go back to a primary lineup with two traditional big men.

Duke has played big with both Marshall Plumlee and Amile Jefferson as starters in the first two games, but recent history suggests it’s only a matter of time before Coach K opts to go small. Duke made its run to the national title last season only after Krzyzewski decided to move Justise Winslow to power forward.

Ingram is the player at the center of Duke’s identity adjustment this season. He has the height to shift to the four, but will he be able to rebound and defend at that position? Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson are gone, but Kentucky certainly isn’t lacking for size. Duke’s small ball vs. Kentucky’s jumbo lineup would make for an extremely interesting dynamic.

Greene flies under the radar for a Kansas team loaded with depth and experience at every position, but he could be the key to the Jayhawks’ season.

Greene is Kansas’ best pure shooter, and he proved it in the season opener by going 5-for-5 from downtown to finish with 18 points. The 6’7 junior doesn’t draw as many headlines as Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden or Frank Mason III, but his ability to stretch opposing defenses out and man either forward spot is a huge boost for Bill Self’s lineup flexibility.

It seemed obvious that Michigan State was the least talented team at last season’s Champions Classic. The Spartans had no answer for Duke’s Jahlil Okafor inside and struggled from the three-point line as the Blue Devils won by 10. Of course, Michigan State peaked at the right time in March and ended up making it to the Final Four as a No. 7 seed before losing to Duke there again.

The Spartans enter Tuesday at No. 13 in the AP poll, while the other three teams here are each in the top five. They’re the only team at the event without a projected first round pick according to DraftExpress. Tom Izzo has another strong team, but this will be their first test to see how they matchup with the bluebloods of college basketball.

Fellow freshmen Labissiere and Ingram are widely considered superior long-term prospects, but Murray seems uniquely equipped to dominate college basketball this season. There’s no better opportunity to introduce himself to a national audience than against Duke on ESPN.

Murray started his college career with a bang by finishing with 19 points, eight assists and three steals against Albany, but he struggled in his second game against Bryant on Sunday, shooting only 1-of-10 from three-point range. Which player will we see against Duke?

It’s all building toward a spotlight matchup against Grayson Allen. Both players are about the same size with similar skill sets. The main difference is that in March while Allen was tearing up the Final Four, Murray was operating under the assumption that he still had a year of high school ball left. Everyone believes Murray can be a great player, now he just needs to prove it. Speaking of which ...

Some wondered if Allen, who played under 10 minutes per game last season, would be able to step up as Duke’s primary offensive option following his breakout effort at the Final Four. Through the first two games of the season, he’s already started to put those concerns to rest.

Allen scored 26 in Duke’s season opener against Sienna, then followed it up with a career-high 28 points against Bryant. This is an elite athlete with shooting range out the three-point line and a relentless attacking mindset that often leads to plays like this one:

If you hate him because he looks like all the other Duke players you used to despise -- well, we tried to warn you. I say drop the hate and embrace Allen for the super entertaining player he’s become.

Kentucky is supposed to be a place that turns out a roster full of one-and-dones every year, not a program that takes a few years to develop project players into valuable contributors. You might be surprised that the latter is happening at the moment, as forwards Derek Willis and Marcus Lee are transforming into essential pieces for the Wildcats.

Willis is the rare three-star recruit at Kentucky, but Calipari took a chance on the local product two years ago because of his size and shooting ability. So far, it’s paying off: Willis has played 45 minutes across UK’s first two games and is currently the team’s third leading scorer. He’s made five of the nine three-pointers he’s taken thus far.

Lee, a springy 6’10 big man, was a McDonald’s All-American who entered school with Julius Randle and the Harrison twins, but was overshadowed by his NBA-ready teammates his first two seasons in school. He’s already had a few breakout games in his college career (namely: a great Elite Eight performance against Michigan as a freshman) but now he’s entrenched as a starter and ready to show the only thing he ever needed from Kentucky was an opportunity.

Enough about the freshmen. What about a senior who has already led his team to the Final Four and keeps getting better every season? There’s a ton to like about Valentine’s game: as a 6’6 wing, he’s a box stuff stuffer and triple-double threat any given night. He doesn’t have the most long-term potential at the Champions Classic, but he might be the best player in the field right now.

Valentine is already off to a hot start after finishing with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the Spartans’ season debut against Florida Atlantic. We had him at No. 17 in our countdown of the top 100 players in college basketball and I worried he was low balled.

Kansas power forward Perry Ellis probably has mixed feelings on the Champions Classic.

As a sophomore, he was the best player on the court as the Jayhawks won the great Andrew Wiggins-Jabari Parker showdown. As a junior, he was swallowed up by Kentucky’s superhuman front line as KU was embarrassed on national TV. Can Ellis go out on top at this event? It seems like he should have a favorable matchup against an unproven MSU defensive front line.

The full list of players who have appeared in four Champions Classics: Ellis and Jamari Traylor for Kansas, Valentine for MSU, Alex Poythress for Kentucky and Amile Jefferson for Duke.

John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Bill Self and Mike Krzyzewski are each still learning their new teams. All four coaches are equipped with flexible rosters that can be messaged to play whichever style they want.

You tune in to the Champions Classic for the talent, but the chess match going on behind it all has its own appeal. These are four of the best coaches in America for a reason.