NEW YORK (WNCN) — The matchups and venue for the 2024 edition of the annual CBS Sports Classic in men’s college basketball have been released.
The North Carolina Tar Heels and UCLA Bruins are set to face off at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 21, with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m. That game will be followed by a matchup between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tickets for the event go on sale in August, and the game will be broadcast right here on CBS 17.
“As we enter our 11th year of the CBS Sports Classic, we’re thrilled to return to the iconic venue at Madison Square Garden featuring some of the nation’s most elite men’s basketball programs,” said Dan Weinberg, executive vice president of programming for CBS Sports. “Throughout our more than four decades of college basketball coverage, we have showcased the game at the highest level, from the first tip of the season through the final buzzer in April, and the CBS Sports Classic is a prime example of our commitment to highlighting the best in college basketball.”
The last time the one-day event was played at the “The World’s Most Famous Arena” was on Dec. 17, 2022. That year, UNC defeated Ohio State in the first game and UCLA topped Kentucky in the late matchup.
The same four teams play in the classic every year. The Tar Heels have the best record of all the schools in the event at 6-4, including a 2-0 record against the Bruins.
The last time the two storied programs were scheduled to play each other in the CBS Sports Classic was in 2021, when the event was held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But both UCLA and Ohio State had to pull out due to COVID-19 outbreaks, so UNC and Kentucky played each other in the event’s sole game.
This will be the third season in a row North Carolina’s men’s basketball team plays a game at Madison Square Garden. Last season, the Tar Heels faced off against the defending national champion UConn Huskies in the Jimmy V Classic.