Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN college basketball fans will be treated to a delightful early-season clash between the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats (2-0, 0-0) and the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks (1-0, 0-0) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana. Live stream the matchup free of charge by clicking this link. Wildcats fans can find the radio broadcast of the game on WKYM 101.7, while Jayhawks fans may do likewise by turning their dials to KJHK 90.7 FM.
The Wildcats are returning Andrew and Aaron Harrison from last season's team that reached the NCAA championship game along with shot-blocking center Willie Cauley-Stein. They are also bringing in their typical slew of hot-shot freshmen that vaulted them to the top of the rankings despite losing a lottery pick, Julius Randle, from last season's squad.
To avoid falling victim to hype, head coach John Calipari schedules difficult matchups in the early going. ''This team needs to be challenged to see where we are, and this is going to be one of those kinds of games,'' Calipari said.
Kansas also lost a ton of talent from a team that spent much of last season atop the polls. This year's group will rely heavily on junior forward Perry Ellis, a talented player who is one of the few team members that's past his sophomore year. This year's Jayhawks has three juniors and no seniors.
Kansas coach Bill Self said he's excited to coach such a high-profile game, but doesn't believe the storied history of these two programs will matter much to the youngsters on the hardwood. "It'll be fun, a lot of history there," Self said.
"(But) I don't think kids today think about that too much, I think they're just worrying about playing guys they got to know on the AAU circuit."
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