The Kansas men’s basketball program has signed on to take part in the CBS Sports Classic beginning next season and through at least the 2029-30 season, it was announced on Wednesday.
The event is a Champions Classic-like doubleheader of high-level teams with rotating locations that from 2014 to 2024 featured Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA. The Bruins pulled out in 2025 to preserve scheduling flexibility and were briefly replaced by St. John’s; now KU is taking their spot.
The Jayhawks will face Ohio State on Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The teams will renew a series that KU leads 8-3, in which the last matchup was during the 2012-13 season, and the most famous battle was a 64-62 victory for the Jayhawks in the 2012 FInal Four.
KU will then face UNC on Dec. 18, 2027; Kentucky on Dec. 16, 2028 and the Buckeyes again on Dec. 15, 2029, all at locations yet to be determined.
The Jayhawks and Tar Heels just completed a home-and-home series in which each team won its respective home matchup. Meanwhile, KU and UK face off every three years as part of the Champions Classic, which according to KU’s press release was recently extended through 2028. That event will feature the Jayhawks taking on the Wildcats at the United Center in Chicago on Nov. 10, 2026, KU against Michigan State at an unknown location on Nov. 9, 2027, and KU against Duke on Nov. 7, 2028.
With Ohio State (currently 14-6 and 6-4 in the Big Ten) and Kentucky locked in for the 2026-27 schedule, KU is drawing closer to filling out its nonconference slate for next season.
The Jayhawks are expected to face UConn at Gampel Pavilion as part of a home-and-home, and Missouri at the T-Mobile Center (technically a home game for the Tigers) to conclude that renewed rivalry series. They will also play several games in Players Era in Las Vegas, although the format is not yet clear for the event as it intends to expand to 32 teams. What has also not yet been revealed is the usual marquee home opponent KU will bring into Allen Fieldhouse.
The 2027-28 schedule includes a game against Indiana at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Nov. 12, 2027.
