The ACC-Big Ten Challenge is deceased, if you didn’t hear.
COD: Television contracts.
Lucky for us, though, ESPN has replaced the annual event with the ACC/SEC Challenge that gets underway Tuesday night with seven matchups, the most compelling of which is Miami vs. Kentucky inside Rupp Arena. Those are the schools ranked No. 8 (Miami) and No. 12 (Kentucky) in Tuesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the seventh consecutive day.
For what it’s worth, UK is listed as a 5.5-point favorite at home over Miami, which returned three starters from a team that played in the Final Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Meantime, Kentucky has two starters, and three rotation pieces, who played in the 2023 McDonald’s All-American game. So it’ll be interesting to see how the Wildcats’ freshmen handle the experience that guys like Wooga Poplar, Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier bring to the court.
“It’s going to be a great environment,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose Wildcats are 5-1 with the lone loss coming to Kansas in the Champions Classic. “You know, Miami is so well-coached and has really good players — plays four guards and all of them can beat you by themselves. They have got a big guy [Omier] similar to [UK’s] Tre [Mitchell] with a high motor. And, so, they’re really, really good.”
Miami enters this non-league showdown with a perfect 5-0 record featuring victories over the teams ranked 41st (Kansas State), 78th (UCF) and 82nd (Georgia) at KenPom.com. After the game at Kentucky, the Hurricanes will open ACC play Saturday with a home contest against Notre Dame.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
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