Can the Kentucky Wildcats beat Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic?

Kentucky will have a massive game early in the season.

University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Pope applauds as Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart introduces him to the thousands of fans in Rupp Arena for his press conference on Sunday, April 14, 2024. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

Kentucky basketball fans won't have to wait long to see Mark Pope's first Kentucky team play in a big game during the 2024-25 season. The Wildcats will play the Duke Blue Devils in Atlanta in the State Farm Champions Classic. This game will be played on November 12th and should bring a lot of eyes as a Duke team, which many expect to be elite, will take on a Kentucky team under a new regime.

Duke has the number one recruiting class, highlighted by the number one player in the class, Cooper Flagg, who many expect to be the number one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. To go along with Flagg Duke has another three five-star recruits. Their class has six total players, with all of them being ranked in the top 40 of the recruiting rankings.

The Blue Devils also brought in four transfers with three of them being four-stars in the portal rankings.

This will be a game where Kentucky has a real chance, as it will be early in the season, and this Kentucky team has played in some big moments. These transfers are all older players, and this should help Coach Pope's team not crumble under the bright lights.

While Duke will likely be ranked in the top five and favored in this game, the Wildcats are more than capable of winning. This would be a massive statement by Coach Pope if he got his Kentucky tenure going with a massive win over an extremely talented Duke team. This basketball game will be a good one that draws a huge crowd.