Kentucky and St. John’s are not supposed to be here, clinging to the bracket in December and searching for themselves. Both started the year inside the top 10. Now St. John’s is 7-3 and sitting at number 22. Kentucky is 7-4 and unranked, living in that uncomfortable space where every game suddenly feels like it goes on the NCAA Tournament resume.
How to watch the CBS Classic between Kentucky and St. John's basketball
Date: December 20th, 12:30 PM
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Channel: CBS
Streaming options: Paramount+, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, FuboTV, Sling TV (Blue &Orange Plan)
Radio: Online: Stream live at UKAthletics.com or on iHeartRadio via WLAP 630.
Local FM/AM Stations:
Lexington: 98.1 FM / 630 WLAP
Louisville: 840 AM WHAS
London: 103.9 FM WWEL
Hazard/Pikeville: 101.1 WSGS
Madisonville: 93.9 FM WKTG
You may also be able to pick up the game on over-the-air networks if you live close enough to a CBS broadcasting station. Check local listings.
Mark Pope, Rick Pitino and a season that feels like it is already on the line
And then there is the history.
Rick Pitino raised a banner at Kentucky in 1996. The captain of that team was a big man who set screens, rebounded and did all the dirty work, a guy named Mark Pope. Twenty nine years later they meet on opposite benches in Atlanta, with Pitino now leaning on former Wildcat Bryce Hopkins as one of his headliners.
Over at FanDuel, St. John’s is a slight favorite at minus 2.5, with the Red Storm at minus 146 on the moneyline and Kentucky at plus 122. The total is set at 156.5, and the props tell you what everyone expects. Otega Oweh, Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Oziyah Sellers and Denzel Aberdeen are all heavy favorites to hit double figures. Oweh, Ejiofor and Hopkins lead the board to get to 20.
So what does Kentucky need to do in this kind of game, in this kind of spotlight, on CBS in an NBA building with a big chunk of Big Blue Nation in the building?
They have to start fast. This cannot look like Nashville against Gonzaga where the Cats were buried under a 19 to 2 avalanche before anyone in blue got to exhale. Kentucky has to match St. John’s physicality on the glass, keep Hopkins off the free throw line, and find enough shotmaking from the guards to avoid those familiar scoring droughts that have haunted them.
This feels like a test of identity as much as anything. St. John’s looks like the more complete team right now, the group that knows exactly who it is on most nights. Kentucky is still trying to put the pieces together, but if they bring the same fight they showed against Indiana and sprinkle in just a little more offensive rhythm, they can turn Atlanta into a very loud road neutral for the Red Storm.
Both Mark Pope and Rick Pitino need a win, they both will fight for it, and the team that responds the best will probably walk away the victor. If the Cats lose, they finish the pre-conference schedule with 1 power 4 win against 5 losses, will sit well outside the top 25 in the AP, and be firmy on the bubble for a tournament spot.
For St. John's a loss clouds their tournament chances as well, because of Kentucky's poor start. Rick Pitino will want to build momentum heading into a powerful Big East.
This game has two desperate teams and two desperate coaches on a neutral floor right before Christmas. Jayden Quantaince is also suspected to be making his debut, which should be a boon for the Cats.
Prediction for the CBS Classic
St. John’s will land runs. Pitino will have wrinkles drawn up that poke at every Kentucky weakness. But this should be a more desperate Kentucky team, and desperation causes teams play differently. Call it 79 to 75 Kentucky in a game that feels like a fork in the road for the season.