The No. 17 ranked Kansas Jayhawks are about to get their biggest test thus far of the regular season when they head to Chicago for this year’s Champions Classic for a primetime showdown versus the No. 23 ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

It’s a star-studded matchup on both sides with Kansas boasting college basketball’s top freshman – and the early favorite to go No. 1 in the 2027 NBA Draft – in Tyran Stokes and Kentucky having several pro prospects on their roster this season.

Kansas and Kentucky are the two winningest programs in college basketball, and it’s always entertaining when these two teams get together.

Here’s a preview of this year’s Kentucky Wildcats.

Record

The Wildcats enter the Champions Classic with a 2-0 record. Their first win came convincingly against the Manhattan Jaspers of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference by a final score of 85-57. However, Kentucky’s second win against James Madison was much more of a challenge.

The game was tied at 39 a piece at halftime, and the Dukes held a 56-54 lead with about 14 minutes to go in the game. But Kentucky was eventually able to pull away 89-80 in the end.

The Wildcats were picked to finish seventh in the SEC this year according to the SEC media preseason poll.

Key Players

The Wildcats have a lot of talent across the board, but there’s a trio of players who stick out on this year’s team.

Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic is one of the best shooters in college basketball. The 6-foot-9 senior averaged 16.9 points per game last year for the Cyclones and shot an incredible 48.7% from 3-point range.

ESPN rates him as the 18th best player in the country this season and it will be a big challenge for the Jayhawks to keep him contained.

Washington transfer Zoom Diallo will also present a challenge. The 6-foot-6 junior was a double-digit scorer the past two seasons for the Huskies and is averaging 14.0 points per game thus far for the Wildcats.

Kentucky big man Malachi Moreno will be a tough matchup for KU’s frontcourt on Tuesday night as well. The 7-foot-1 sophomore center is a projected first-round draft pick and tested the NBA waters this offseason after averaging 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a freshman last year.

It will be interesting to see how Bill Self decides to match up with Moreno defensively.

Coaching

The Wildcats are led by Mark Pope, a former Kentucky player who is now in his third year as head coach in Lexington. He was hired by the Wildcats in April 2024 to replace long-time head coach John Calipari.

Pope guided Kentucky to a 24-12 record and a Sweet 16 appearance during his first year. His early success had Big Blue Nation excited for the future, but that took a turn during a tumultuous second year at the helm.

Boasting one of the most expensive rosters in college basketball, the Wildcats drastically underperformed last year and lost seven of their final 12 games. They finished 22-14, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Pope is now 48-26 overall as head coach at Kentucky.

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