GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Michigan State basketball opens next season a week earlier vs. Kansas in Champions Classic

Chris Solari
Lansing State Journal

 

Kansas' Devonte' Graham (4) and Landen Lucas, force Michigan State' Cassius Winston (5) to pass the ball out in the first half of a second-round game in the men's NCAA college basketball tournament in Tulsa, Okla., Sunday, March 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Next year’s Champions Classic will be one week earlier.

That means Michigan State will face Kansas now on Nov. 6 in Indianapolis to open the 2018-19 season. Duke vs. Kentucky will be the other game of the doubleheader at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The shift is due to Tuesday’s NCAA Division I Council decision to move the start of college basketball for both men and women to the Tuesday before the second Friday of November.

“The Champions Classic has always served as the unofficial start to the college basketball season, so it only makes sense to move to the earlier date,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said in a release. “Our four great programs, the capacity crowds and the media attention provide a spotlight on our game that’s much needed during an otherwise crowded time in the sports calendar. I can’t think of a better way to tip off the season.”

The Spartans are 3-4 in the Champions Classic since it began in 2011. They lost to Duke this season in Chicago on Nov. 14.

More:No. 2 Michigan State 'played really, really bad and lost' to No. 1 Duke

More:2017-18 Michigan State men's basketball schedule

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!