‘These are unusual times.’ Kentucky will play North Carolina instead of UCLA next.
The 2020-21 college basketball season continues to breathe new life into a comment made by Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde: “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.”
The nothing-is-certain-but-uncertainty theme continued Wednesday when the CBS Sports Classic changed its matchups for Saturday’s doubleheader.
Kentucky will now play North Carolina at 2 p.m. EST. Then UCLA will play Ohio State at about 4:15 p.m. Originally, UK was scheduled to play UCLA followed by a North Carolina-Ohio State game.
CBS cited the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for the change. The revised schedule was made to “more closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences,” a news release said.
North Carolina Coach Roy Williams issued a statement suggesting that any change on the fly this season should not be surprising.
“This is a little unusual to say the least,” he said of the change three days before the scheduled games. “But these are unusual times, and that goes for college basketball as well. . . .
“Perhaps it would have been better to make a change like this earlier. But the bottom line is we want to play. Kentucky, Ohio State and UCLA all have fantastic programs, and we are excited about having the opportunity to play.”
The venue and television plans did not change. The doubleheader will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. As the name of the event suggests, CBS will televise the games.
Of the four teams in the doubleheader, only Kentucky did not receive a mention in The Associated Press Top 25 poll this week. Of course, UK has lost four of its first five games this season. Ohio State and North Carolina are ranked 20th and 22nd respectively. UCLA was among the teams receiving votes.
Of Kentucky’s first seven games, North Carolina will be one of four opponents either ranked or receiving votes in this week’s AP poll. The others are No. 5 Kansas and No. 23 Louisville, plus Richmond received votes.
North Carolina is off to a 4-2 start. The Tar Heels’ two losses were to Iowa and Texas, who are both ranked in the top 15 of both major polls.
The Tar Heels return three starters from last season and welcomed in one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Senior forward Garrison Brooks leads UNC in scoring with an average of 11.8 ppg. Freshman guards Caleb Love and RJ Davis are each averaging 11.2 points.
Kentucky trails 24-16 in the series with North Carolina. The teams have played twice previously in the CBS Sports Classic. UK won both games as Malik Monk set a Kentucky freshman record by scoring 47 points in a 103-100 victory in Las Vegas in 2016-17 and then 80-72 in Chicago in 2018-19 in a game Ashton Hagans tied a school record with eight steals.
Those two UK victories are the only times North Carolina has lost games in the CBS Sports Classic. North Carolina leads the four schools with a 4-2 record. Kentucky and Ohio State are each 3-3 and UCLA is 2-4 in the event.
The four programs have won a combined 26 national championships: 11 by UCLA, eight by UK, six by UNC and one by Ohio State.
Kentucky and North Carolina rank first and third, respectively, in all-time victories.
Saturday
Kentucky vs. No. 22 North Carolina
What: CBS Sports Classic
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 1-4, North Carolina 4-2
Series: North Carolina leads 24-16.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 80-72 on Dec. 22, 2018, at the CBS Sports Classic in Chicago.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
