Report: CBS Sports Classic matchups, potential location revealed

We now know the matchups for the 2024 CBS Sports Classic, thanks to a report Monday morning from college hoops insider Jeff Goodman.

Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA and Ohio State have long been the four participants in the event, typically rotating who faces who on a yearly basis. Per Goodman, it will be ‘Cats vs. Buckeyes and Heels vs. Bruins this season, with the games possibly occurring in New York City.

Here was his tweet containing the news:

“This year’s matchups for CBS Sports Classic, which will be on Dec. 21, source told @thefieldof68: Kentucky vs. Ohio State North; Carolina vs. UCLA. Likely to be held at Madison Square Garden, per source.”

Alas, Kentucky and Ohio State will finally meet again after some scheduling snafus led to a break in their matchup since the 2019-20 season. For those programs, there is some crossover drama that could be on the line, since former Wildcat center Aaron Bradshaw is now at OSU and is set to be a huge piece of the Buckeye frontcourt.

Bradshaw came out of high school as a top-five player in the 2023 recruiting class, but then suffered a foot injury that ultimately kept him out for most of November and December. Even when he returned, Bradshaw didn’t live up to his recruiting pedigree and really struggled to even see the court as Kentucky’s season progressed.

Now, he’s found new pastures up in Columbus and should benefit from a fresh start at a place with a little less pressure than Lexington.

On the whole, Ohio State has fared incredibly well vs. Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic, having beat the Wildcats in both of their previous matchups — back in 2019-20, when the teams were ranked fifth and sixth in the nation, and in 2015-26, when a struggling OSU squad got a heroic outing from Keita Bates-Diop to deliver a win.

As for Carolina and UCLA, well, there’s also some recent history there. Back in 2022, the Bruins and Tar Heels met in the Sweet 16 to produce one of the highest-quality basketball games of the entire ’22 NCAA Tournament. No. 8 seeded North Carolina prevailed but only after a titanic struggle.

Coming this December, Mick Cronin will get his chance at revenge, since it would have been very easy to imagine that UCLA team then making the same run to the Final Four and title game as Carolina did.