Last week, it was announced that Ohio State would be joining a brand new college basketball tip-off event featuring some of the college basketball "bluebloods." The event is modeled after the Champions Classic, which has been a massive success since its inception a few years back. Both events feature top notch programs right at the beginning of the college basketball season. The participants in the CBS Sports Classic are: Kentucky; North Carolina; Ohio State; and UCLA.
The event has been scheduled for the next 3 seasons. This year, the event will occur on December 20th in Chicago at the United Center. In 2015, the event will occur on December 19th in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. Finally, in 2016, the event will occur on December 17th in Las Vegas with no specified venue. All 3 of years should feature primetime matchups with highly ranked teams. Here are the matchups for each year:
2014 Matchups |
2015 Matchups |
2016 Matchups |
Kentucky vs. UCLA |
Kentucky vs. Ohio State |
Kentucky vs. North Carolina |
North Carolina vs. Ohio State |
North Carolina vs. UCLA |
Ohio State vs. UCLA |
For Ohio State, they are scheduled to start off with North Carolina in 2014, followed by Kentucky, and then finish off against UCLA. North Carolina is ranked #7 on the CBSSports for the 2014-2015 season. The Buckeyes are ranked #21 on the same list. The game will likely receive national attention and be one of Ohio State's premier non-conference games this season.
Here are a few interesting comments about the event from CBSSports.com:
"Four distinct, different regions of the country are covered by four programs that total 25 NCAA Tournament championships -- nearly a third of all title-winners.
Here are some comments from Ohio State head coach Thad Matta:
"We are excited to be part of the CBS Sports Classic the next three seasons. The four teams competing have a tremendous history of success in college basketball. We have partnered with terrific cities and venues to make this a great experience for our program, our student-athletes and our fans."