Once the anchor of college basketball’s opening night, the Champions Classic now tips in the season’s second week. The initial reason for the move was related to the season’s start date being bumped from a Tuesday to a Monday, but the event is locked into the second week on the calendar now, seemingly for good. A big reason why: The coaches involved want more time with their teams to get themselves ready with easier matchups, rather than match up with another elite team on opening night.
Tuesday’s Duke vs. Michigan State opener in Chicago likely did little to convince either coach that they want this game on opening night moving forward. If anything, both coaches might have preferred another few weeks before throwing their teams into a game like this. It was a slog, particularly in the first half, when the teams combined for 19 turnovers and just 51 points, but eventually Duke took control and dealt Michigan State its second loss of the season, winning 74–65. It’s not the start the Spartans—picked in the top five of the preseason AP Poll and expected to challenge Purdue for a Big Ten championship—envisioned, and raises questions again whether this team is destined for another year closer to the bubble than the top of the bracket.
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