By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Indianapolis, IN

Defending national champion Kentucky squares off with Duke University Nov. 13 in the centerpiece match of the annual 24-hour hoops marathon that marks the start of the college basketball season.

The Wildcats will play the Blue Devils in the Champions Classic at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta after the Michigan State-Kansas encounter.

The meeting will be the first since 2001 for the Wildcats and coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils, who were knocked out in the round of 64 in last year's NCAA tournament by Lehigh.

The Wildcats of coach John Calipari notched their eighth national championship after beating Kansas, 67-59, in the finals.

Kentucky will play without key players from its championship run as Anthony Davis was selected first overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets followed by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who was taken by the Charlotte Bobcats.

The marathon of games opens at midnight with West Virginia going up against Gonzaga in a rematch of last year's NCAA tournament second-round game, won by Gonzaga.

The schedule continues at 2 a.m. ET with Davidson battling New Mexico, while Houston Baptist meets Hawaii at 4 a.m. ET.

The morning ET games include Stony Brook at Rider (6 a.m.), Northern Illinois at Valparaiso (8 a.m.) and Harvard at Massachusetts (10 a.m.).

The afternoon session features Temple at Kent State (noon), Detroit at St. John's (2 p.m.) and Butler at Xavier (4 p.m.).

Michigan State will battle No. 4 Kansas at 7 p.m. before Duke and Kentucky collide at 9 p.m.

 

 

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