CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — For the fifth time since the event began in 2014, North Carolina and Kentucky men’s basketball will face off in the annual CBS Sports Classic.
The two teams will play in the second game of the 2023 edition of the event, which will be held in Atlanta for the first time. UCLA and Ohio State will play in the first game of the doubleheader on Dec. 16. Both games will be broadcast on CBS, with tip-off for the Bruins-Buckeyes set for 3 p.m. EDT and the Tar Heels-Wildcats estimated at 5:30 p.m.
UNC and UK last matched up in the 2021 CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas after UCLA (the Tar Heels’ scheduled opponent) and Ohio State (the Wildcats’ scheduled opponent) both pulled out right before the event due to COVID-19 issues among their teams.
Kentucky won that last meeting in a rout, but Carolina leads the all-time series 25-17. The two storied programs also faced each other in the 2016 (UK win), 2018 (UK win) and 2020 (UNC win) editions of this event.
Last season, UNC defeated Ohio State in overtime in Game 1 of the CBS Sports Classic, which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. UCLA topped Kentucky in the second game.
The Tar Heels will be playing at MSG again this coming season, but for a different annual college basketball competition. On Dec. 5, UNC will face defending national champion UConn in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic.
Unlike the CBS Sports Classic, which has the same four schools playing rotating matchups each year, the Jimmy V Classic invites different teams each season. This will be the first year Carolina has played in this event, which honors late former N.C. State men’s basketball head coach Jim Valvano, since 1999.
