The Kansas Jayhawks Take On the Michigan State Spartans in Champions Classic

The Kansas Jayhawks will officially open the season against the Michigan State Spartans. The State Farm Champions Classic will be held on Tuesday, November 9th.  These two teams will tip-off at 6:00 P.M. from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

You can catch the game on ESPN and covered by Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and Holly Rowe. The Champions Classic began in 2011 and would feature a doubleheader with schools such as Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and Michigan State. Since its inception, Kansas is 5-5 and has been in command in the last four of its last five.

According to kuathletics.com, this matchup dates back to 1960, and the series between these two schools is tied at 7-7. The most recent game took place in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 6th, 2018. The Jayhawks would defeat the Spartans 92-87.

The Spartans had an uncanny season last year. They would finish the season 15-13 and 9-11 in Big 10 play. Tom Izzo who is entering his 26th as the Spartan’s head coach looks to get his team back on track. They enter the season unranked.

Kansas projected starters are Christian Braun, Dajuan Harris Jr., Remy Martin, Ochai Agbaji, and David McCormack. All of these players are returning to the Jayhawks except for Martin. Kansas is looking to start the season 1-0 which would be the 16th time in Bill Self’s 19 seasons. This would be a bold statement to start the 2021 season. Kansas was preseason No. 3 in USA Today Coach’s poll along with No. 3 in Associated Press Poll. Kansas was also picked as No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference Coach’s poll.

Kansas recently defeated Emporia State 86-60 in the only exhibition game for the Jayhawks.  A tune up game for the regular season. The Jayhawks will make their home debut inside historical Allen Fieldhouse against Tarleton State on Friday, November 12th.  The game will be televised on ESPN+.