Ohio State Buckeyes, Kentucky Wildcats Set to Face Off in Winter Matchup

Winter is coming for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Wildcat-turned-Buckeye Aaron Bradshaw will get a chance to go at his former team. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

The Buckeyes have a tough task ahead of them.

Ohio State and Kentucky will face off on Dec. 21, likely from Madison Square Garden in New York, per Field of 68's Jeff Goodman Monday.

This year’s matchups for CBS Sports Classic, which will be on Dec. 21, source told @thefieldof68.

Kentucky vs. Ohio State

North Carolina vs. UCLA

Likely to be held at Madison Square Garden, per source.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 3, 2024

North Carolina and UCLA will round out this doubleheader event in the CBS Sports Classic.

The Buckeyes come in at No. 14 in Andy Katz's preseason Power 36 after adding four players from the transfer portal who should address gaping issues — San Diego State's Micah Parrish, South Carolina's Meechie Johnson Jr., Duke's Sean Stewart and Kentucky's Aaron Bradshaw.

That's right, Bradshaw, coming off his freshman year, will have a chance to show the Wildcats what they might be missing; namely, a seven-foot-one paint protector who can dominate on both ends of the floor.

Jake Diebler had a fantastic offseason despite losing five of his rotational players. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

However, Kentucky may have had one of the top offseasons ever (at least in the immediate eligibility after the portal era). Although Hall-of-Fame coach John Calipari left for Arkansas, the Wildcats brought in former Brigham Young coach Mark Pope to fill that void — and Pope has worked wonders.

Pope, who won a national championship with Kentucky in 1996, has brought in a multitude of top players from the portal — Dayton's Kobe Brea, West Virginia's Kerr Kriisa, San Diego State's Lamont Butler, Oklahoma's Otega Oweh and one of his former players in Jaxon Robinson.

Currently, Katz has Kentucky at No. 20 in his preseason poll.

This will be a battle no doubt — but perhaps a battle of the epitome of what it takes to build a team in the new transfer portal era.