In the back half of Tuesday’s Champions Classic, the Kansas Jayhawks face the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats are 2-0, although they did struggle with James Madison at home, not really putting them away until the final minutes. The Jayhawks are also 2-0, and they haven’t been tested yet in the least. This game is in Chicago, and both teams are still trying to figure out who they are and what they have. This is not an easy one to handicap, but I will take the Jayhawks -4.5.
Kansas has a couple of five-star freshmen guards that they will rely on and build around, including the top-rated player this year, Tyran Stokes. The Wildcats are plenty familiar with Stokes, as they were in a recruiting battle with Kansas for his services. The big get for the Wildcats was Milan Momcilovic, the Iowa State transfer who led the nation in three-point percentage and threes made last season. The Cats are counting on him heavily for scoring. Defense could be a problem though, especially in a game like this. I think this Kentucky team is of the good-not-great variety, and Kansas seems a bit ahead of them at this point. I’ll take the Jayhawks.
Kansas vs Kentucky prediction: Kansas -4.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -6.
