Ohio State faces North Carolina and UCLA takes on Kentucky at MSG on Dec. 17

The CBS Sports Classic, an annual college basketball showcase featuring perennial powers Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA, has been extended for three years through 2026. The marquee event, which began in 2014, is broadcast each year on The CBS Television Network and available to stream live on Paramount+.

The 2022 CBS Sports Classic will be held on Saturday, Dec. 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

This year’s doubleheader will include Ohio State facing North Carolina at 3:00 PM, ET followed by UCLA taking on Kentucky. This set of matchups was last featured in 2017, when North Carolina defeated Ohio State, 86-72, and UCLA knocked off Kentucky, 83-75.

Tickets for the 2022 CBS Sports Classic will go on sale to the general public in August, but fans interested in attending the event can register to receive direct email alerts regarding ticket news and other event at www.cbssportsclassic.com/tickets. Fans who register for these ticket alerts will be eligible for exclusive presale access.

Each of the four programs appear in the Top 25 of the CBSSports.com preseason rankings, according to CBS Sports college basketball analyst Gary Parrish. Following its run through the NCAA Men’s Tournament and with nearly all of its major contributors returning next season, North Carolina appears at No. 2, and is joined by Kentucky (No. 4) and UCLA (No. 10) in the Top 10, while Ohio State is No. 24.

This will be the first time that Madison Square Garden hosts the CBS Sports Classic. Throughout the eight-year history of the CBS Sports Classic, the United Center in Chicago (2014, 2018), Barclays Center in Brooklyn (2015), T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (2016, 2019, 2021), Smoothie King Center in New Orleans (2017) and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland (2020) have hosted the event.

The CBS Sports Classic annually brings together four of the nation’s most successful college basketball programs. The quartet owns a combined 26 national championships, with UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6) ranking first, second and third, respectively, in NCAA history. Additionally, all four programs rank in the top six in all time Final Four berths, compiling 66 total appearances between them (North Carolina, 21; UCLA, 18; Kentucky, 17; Ohio State, 10). They are among college basketball’s all-time winningest programs, combining for nearly 8,400 victories, while Kentucky (939), North Carolina (931) and UCLA (718), are ranked first, second and fifth, respectively, in all time AP Top-25 appearances.

North Carolina is 5-3 in the CBS Sports Classic, Ohio State is 4-3, Kentucky is 4-4 and UCLA is 2-5.

For additional information on the event, please visit www.cbssportsclassic.com.

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Media Contacts:

Randall Liu, CBS Sports, randall.liu@cbs.com

Dan Mihalik, Intersport, dmihalik@intersport.global

Larry Torres, Madison Square Garden, larry.torres@msg.com