Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State set for epic 2025 battle at MSG’s Champions Classic

The 15th annual State Farm Champions Classic will return to Madison Square Garden after being held outside of New York for the last three seasons in 2025. The announcement was made on Thursday through a press release, with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State competing in this two-game spectacle.

“ESPN Events’ State Farm Champions Classic season-opening men’s college basketball event featuring Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 18, 2025,” the release read.

This will be the fifth time MSG will host the basketball showcase and the first time since Nov. 9, 2021, that the arena will host the prestigious event. It previously hosted the Champions Classic in 2011, 2016 and 2019.

This year, Atlanta will host the Champions Classic. AP Preseason No. 1 seed Kansas will take on Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. ET. No. 7 Duke and No. 23 Kentucky will square off right after the Jayhawks-Spartans encounter.

The United Center in Chicago, Illinois, played host to the Champions Classic last year. Duke beat Michigan State 74-65, and Kansas outclassed Kentucky 89-84 in front of 18,780 fans at the MSG.

In the past 13 stagings of the Champions Classic, the Blue Devils and the Jayhawks are tied with an 8-5 record, while the Wildcats and the Spartans share third with a 5-8 mark.

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Cooper Flagg, Hunter Dickinson to headline 2024 Champions Classic

No. 1 Kansas and No. 7 Duke will parade a retooled roster in their bid to dethrone back-to-back defending champion UConn and fine-tune their plays in the long run. The Jayhawks will be led by 7-foot-2 Hunter Dickinson, who stayed for another season in Lawrence despite being eligible to list himself in the 2024 NBA draft.

Dickinson will join returning guard Dajuan Harris Jr. plus veteran transfers Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Noah Shelby, Shakeel Moore and David Colt. Kansas will have two new high school recruits—five-star center Flory Bidunga and four-star forward Rakease Passmore.

On the other hand, Duke will feature Class of 2024 top recruit Cooper Flagg and fellow five-star players Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel, Patrice Ngongba II and Isaiah Evans. They will have veterans Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster carrying the ball for the Blue Devils and will be reinforced by transfers Maliq Brown, Cameron Sheffield, Sion James and Mason Gillis.

Meanwhile, Jaden Akins will spearhead Michigan State's attack this season along with high school recruits Kur Teng and Jase Richardson and transfers Szymon Zapala and Frankie Fidler.