Champions Classic preview: Duke-Michigan State, Kansas-Kentucky do battle in Chicago

The 2017-18 college basketball season begins in earnest Tuesday night with the 2017 Champions Classic. The annual double-header featuring four of the sport’s most prominent names has unofficially served as the season’s first major event since its inception in 2011. There won’t be anything unofficial about it a year from now, when the event will take place on the actual first night of the 2018-19 season.

Once again, the Champions Classic figures to give us a pair of highly entertaining games with four teams that figure to be right in the thick of the national title hunt come March.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s huge double-header.

What teams are playing?

No. 1 Duke takes on No. 2 Michigan State at 7 p.m. ET, with No. 4 Kansas taking on No. 7 Kentucky 30 minutes after game one.

What channel are the games on?

ESPN and streaming on Watch ESPN.

Where are this year’s games being played?

The United Center in Chicago.

Which teams are favored?

Duke is a slim 1.5-point favorite to take care of Michigan State, while Kansas is favored to beat Kentucky by 4.5.

What are the major storylines?

There are a bunch, but here are the five biggest:

1) No. 1 vs. No. 2

For the second time in Champions Classic history, the event will have a game that features the No. 1 team in the AP poll taking on the No. 2 team. That game this year is technically the undercard, No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Michigan State, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET.

In 2013, No. 2 Michigan State knocked off No. 1 Kentucky by a final score of 78-74. That game was also played at the United Center.

2) Four Hall of Famers

Bill Self’s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September means that all four coaches involved in Tuesday night’s double-header are Hall of Famers. That’s an occurrence only this event is likely to give you.

3) Marvin Bagley vs. Miles Bridges

Though they likely won’t be guarding one another for any extended stretch, the opportunity to see Duke’s Marvin Bagley Jr. and Michigan State’s Miles Bridges on the same court together is one of Tuesday night’s largest draws. Bridges seems to be just about everyone’s preseason national Player of the Year, while Bagley is currently near the top of the vast majority of 2018 NBA mock drafts.

4) Kentucky looks to remain event’s most successful team

No single team has dominated the Champions Classic over its six-year existence, but Kentucky owns the best record of any of the four teams at 4-2. They can maintain that title with a win over Kansas Tuesday night .

Here are the all-time Champions Classic record heading into the 2017 installment:

Kentucky: 4-2
Duke: 3-3
Michigan State: 3-3
Kansas: 2-4

5) Biggest night of the non-conference season

There’s a reason why these two games sat at No. 1 and No. 2 on our list of the 50 best non-conference games of the 2017-18 season. Even though all four of these teams figure to improve dramatically over the course of the next four months, whatever happens Tuesday night is still likely to have a major impact on what the NCAA tournament Selection Committee does in March. A neutral court win over a fellow top 10 team could certainly wind up being the difference between a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed for one of these teams.