Duke will compete with Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State in the Champions Classic at least through 2019, ESPN reported Wednesday.
The marquee regular season event started in 2011 and features two November regular season games each year between the four schools with rotating opponents. This year, Duke will take on Kansas at 9:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York, with Kentucky and Michigan State doing battle in the evening's first game.
Next year, the event will take place in Chicago at the United Center, with the Blue Devils taking on Michigan State. In 2018, the Champions Classic will return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The teams will return to Madison Square Garden for the same matchups happening this year again in 2019.
In its first five years, the Champions Classic has seen 31 first-round NBA Draft picks and some of college basketball's highest-rated regular season games. Duke's 2015 matchup against Kentucky last year was the highest-rated game of the 2015-16 regular season.
The four participating teams have combined for 18 NCAA championships and 57 Final Four appearances, with Duke, Kansas and Kentucky being three of the four winningest programs in men's college basketball.
"The Champions Classic has become the signature event for the start of the college basketball season,'' Kevin White, vice president and director of athletics, told ESPN. "Duke is happy to be included in the continuation of the series and to stay linked with our championship colleagues from Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State.''
The Blue Devils have compiled a 3-2 record in Champions Classic play, including head coach Mike Krzyzewski's 903rd win in 2011 against Michigan State. The win made Krzyzewski the winningest Division I men's basketball coach ahead of his former coach, Bob Knight.
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