Kentucky-UCLA, Ohio State-North Carolina to Face Off Near Christmas

Basketball blue bloods Kentucky and UCLA will square off the weekend before Christmas at Chicago’s United Center, while Ohio State will face North Carolina in the other half of the doubleheader, according to Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch.

The four-team round robin will shift to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2015 and to Las Vegas in 2016, all on the weekend before Christmas.

Kentucky plays in a similar four-team round robin called the Champions Classic in November featuring Kansas, Duke and Michigan State.

This past year was the third year of the Champions Classic, which started in 2011 in New York, moved to Atlanta in 2012 and was played in Chicago last November. All four teams have committed to continuing the series with a new three-year rotation in 2014.

Photo: AJC

Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.