St. John's reportedly replacing UCLA in CBS Sports Classic, will face Kentucky

MrsTylerKSR

st-johns-replacing-ucla-cbs-sports-classic-kentucky-rick-pitino-mark-pope — Mark Pope embraces Rick Pitino as he addresses the crowd at Rupp Arena for his first Big Blue Madness as Kentucky's head coach - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

We may get Mark Pope vs. Rick Pitino this season after all. According to St. John’s podcaster Dave Berov, St. John’s is replacing UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. The field will now be Kentucky, Ohio State, North Carolina, and St. John’s. The Cats were scheduled to face the Bruins in this year’s event, meaning that they will face Pitino’s Red Storm unless the schedule changes.

On Sunday, our own Matt Jones reported that one of the teams in the CBS Sports Classic was trying to drop out, and St. John’s and UConn were among the teams that may take their place. The location of this year’s event has yet to be officially announced, but Matt is hearing it will be Atlanta. Mark Pope and Rick Pitino had been trying to schedule a Kentucky vs. St. John’s game since Pope took the job last year, but the Cats’ prior scheduling obligations kept getting in the way. A home-and-home series would have been nice, but we’ll take Caltanta too.

Kentucky is 5-6 in the CBS Sports Classic, most recently losing to Ohio State in New York. Atlanta has been kind to the Cats, who beat Duke in the Champions Classic in State Farm Arena last year and North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic in 2023. Hopefully, it’ll come through for Kentucky once again.

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St. John’s is projected to be a top-three team next season, bringing in one of the best transfer portal classes in the country with Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Bryce Hopkins (Providence), Joson Sanon (Arizona State), and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford). It’ll be the second time Hopkins, who played for Kentucky from 2021-22, will face his former team. Kentucky beat Providence in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Just one of many storylines in this one.

UPDATE: Jeff Goodman has confirmed Berov’s report.

Can confirm this.

The Johnnies replacing UCLA and will play Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic.

Rick Pitino against UK and Mark Pope.

Should be awesome!! https://t.co/D6NghFi4bm
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 1, 2025

Kentucky’s 2025-26 non-conference schedule (as we know it)

Here is Kentucky’s non-conference schedule as we know it. It’s a tough one! On today’s episode of KSR, Drew Franklin also teased a game vs. Texas Rio Grande Valley, so the Vaqueros may be coming to Rupp as well.

Nov. 18: vs. Michigan State | Champions Classic (New York)
Dec. 5: vs. Gonzaga | Nashville
Dec. 13: vs. Indiana | Rupp Arena
Dec. 23: vs. Bellarmine | Rupp Arena
TBD: vs. St. John’s (?) | CBS Sports Classic (Atlanta)
TBD: vs. Louisville | Louisville
TBD: SEC/ACC Challenge (TBD)
TBD: vs. NC Central | Rupp Arena

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