Early season test for nation’s elite

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The biggest thing Kansas coach Bill Self wants to change about the Champions Classic is his record.

The teams? The timing? The location?

He’s good with all of it. So are his counterparts at Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State, who have been involved in the annual doubleheader pitting a quartet of college basketball’s blue bloods since its inception. But where Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari and Tom Izzo have all won at least half their games, the Jayhawks have dropped four of their six contests since the first event in 2011 at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s always nice to see how much poise we have in a pressure situation,” said Self, whose fourth-ranked Jayhawks face No. 7 Kentucky in tonight’s nightcap in Chicago. “I certainly anticipate it not being pretty, but I do anticipate both teams playing hard.”

Therein may be the biggest drawback of the Champions Classic.

The event has always been scheduled the first or second week of the season, which means all four teams are still trying to integrate transfers and freshmen. Most years they’ve only played one game, and for Kansas, that involved flying from Hawaii to New York in between last season.

The result is games that are often chaotic and unpolished, and outcomes that aren’t always indicative of what’s to come. Kentucky romped to a 32-point victory over the Jayhawks a few years ago and an eventual Final Four team from Michigan State was soundly beaten by Duke.

The top-ranked Blue Devils and second-ranked Spartans meet again in the opener tonight.

“It’s the first really marquee game for them,” Krzyzewski said of his young team, “and I just want them to enjoy the moment, to be immersed in the moment. Don’t worry about mistakes and then it’s a matter of letting them play, and if we see anything. … ‘Just settle down, man. Let’s play.’”

As it stands, the kickoff to the college basketball season happens on a Friday night, which keeps it from being overwhelmed by college football and the NFL. So by playing the Champions Classic on tonight, it takes the spotlight of the sports landscape as much as can reasonably be expected.

In fact, Krzyzewski would like to see the season kick off for everybody on Tuesday, and the four teams to continue playing the Champions Classic as the marquee event of the night.

“I think it’s one of those nights that you should start the season with a game like that,” he said. “It’s a big-time doubleheader. I’m glad our four schools have gotten in it and continue to do it. It’s such a good idea.”

The timing isn’t going to change for at least the next two years, with games already scheduled for Indianapolis next season and New York in 2019. That would finish the latest contract, which the schools agreed to last year — though all of them have expressed interest in keeping it going.