Nov 6, 20196 min read

CBB: What if the Champions Classic...

What if the Champions Classic was the Final Four and the winner, since the event began, was regarded as the national champion. In the nine years since the Champions Classic was created, only two of the real champions would remain the same after we did this. The way we calculated who “won” the tournament each year was a combination of the records versus Champions Classic teams during that specific season, the final overall record of each team, and the amount of NCAA Tournament wins by each team per year. The only restriction we created is the winning team must have won at least one game against other Champions Classics programs, which eliminated 2013-14 Kentucky, even though they had the most points. So here we go.

Kentucky wins inaugural Champions Classic: The first event took place on Nov. 15, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the first game of the night, #6 Duke took down Michigan State, 74-69. Seth Curry had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with 20 points on 57.1% shooting from the field. #2 Kentucky defeated #12 Kansas in the second game, 75-65, behind Anthony Davis' 14 points and six rebounds. Kentucky played Kansas a second time in the national championship and won again, 68-61. The Wildcats finished the season 38-2 and was 2-0 against Champions Classic teams. The Jayhawks were 0-3 against Champions Classic teams as they also lost to Duke. This one was pretty clean and simple as Kentucky was the best team in the nation behind Davis' play.

2011-12 Standings:

1. Kentucky (46, 2-0)

2. Kansas (37, 0-3)

3. Michigan State (31, 0-1)

4. Duke (29, 2-0)

Duke takes the title with wins over Kentucky and Michigan State: #21 Michigan State upset #7 Kansas, 67-64, in the first game behind Keith Appling's game-high 19 points and three assists. He was 3-3 from the free throw line. Seth Curry had a good game for the second year in a row as he scored 23 points on 50% shooting to go along with three rebounds. #9 Duke defeated #3 Kentucky, 75-68. This season worked out pretty well because the two winners of the initial games played later in the season. Duke took down Michigan State by 10 points. The Blue Devils finished the year 30-6 and were +13 versus Champions Classic programs. Kentucky was by far the worst team to this point as they failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. Duke takes our title, but Louisville won the actual title this year.

2012-13 Standings:

1. Duke (35, 2-0)

2. Kansas (33, 0-1)

3. Michigan State (30, 1-1)

4. Kentucky (21, 0-1)

Michigan State gets Tom Izzo his second championship despite Kentucky's strong finish: Only of the things that is so enjoyable about the Champions Classic is that we get to see top tier programs face off right away. That was obvious on Nov. 12, 2013 when #2 Michigan State beat #1 Kentucky, 78-74, at the United Center in Chicago. Keith Appling had another strong performance with 22 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. #5 Kansas upset #4 Duke, 94-83, in the night cap behind Andrew Wiggins (22 points) and Joel Embiid (seven rebounds). This is a rare year in which there were no other regular season matchups between the four teams. Because of that, Kentucky didn't defeat Duke, Kansas, or Michigan State and were eliminated from contention. UConn won the championship in real life.

2013-14 Standings:

1. Michigan State (33, 1-0)

2. Kentucky (34, 0-1)

3. Kansas (27, 1-0)

4. Duke (26, 0-1)

Duke becomes first team with two rings: The fourth event took place on Nov. 18, 2014 in Indianapolis. #4 Duke had their way with #19 Michigan State, winning 81-71, behind Tyus Jones' 17 points and four assists. He shot 80% from the field. #1 Kentucky stole the show, though, with a 72-40 blowout victory over #5 Kansas. Karl-Anthony Towns had nine points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Devin Booker had five points and three assists. Even though the Wildcats were the best team on this night and for the majority of the season, the Blue Devils are crowned champions. Duke and Kentucky finished with the same amount of points (43, which is tied for second most to this point), but we give the edge to Mike Krzyzewski's crew because they won the actual championship and beat Michigan State later on.

2014-15 Standings:

1. Duke (43, 2-0)

2. Kentucky (43, 1-0)

3. Michigan State (31, 0-3)

4. Kansas (29, 1-1)

Kansas takes advantage of down year for everyone else: Now this year is pretty unique. Not only is this the first year that no teams from the Champions Classic reached the Final Four, but also our champion didn't win their game in the Champions Classic. The event was played on Nov. 17, 2015 in Chicago and #2 Kentucky began the night with an 11-point win over #5 Duke. Jamal Murray has 16 points in the win. #13 Michigan State upset #4 Kansas, 79-73, behind Denzel Valentine's 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. So how did the Jayhawks do enough to win it all? Bill Self's team faced Kentucky later in the year and won 90-84, allowing them to quality for the championship. And they were the clear winner. The Jayhawks went 33-5 before losing to eventual champions Villanova in the Elite Eight.

2015-16 Standings:

1. Kansas (37, 1-1)

2. Michigan State (30, 1-0)

3. Kentucky (29, 1-1)

4. Duke (27, 0-1)

Kansas goes back-to-back with wins over Duke, Michigan State: It doesn't seem right that Frank Mason never made it to the Final Four. It just feels off. Well, in our world, he wins two national championships. The 2016 version of the event started with #2 Kentucky's win over #13 Michigan State. Malik Monk led the Wildcats to a 69-48 win as he scored 23 points and six rebounds. #7 Kansas ended the night with a narrow 77-75 win over #1 Duke. Mason had 21 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Devonte Graham dropped 13 points. The Jayhawks also earned a 90-70 win over Michigan State later in the season. The Spartans played all three of Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky, and lost all of them. This one comes down to a tie breaker and Kansas later defeated Kentucky. The real champion was North Carolina.

2016-17 Standings:

1. Kansas (36, 3-0)

2. Kentucky (36, 1-1)

3. Duke (30, 1-1)

4. Michigan State (21, 0-3)

Kansas three-peats following Mason's graduation: On Nov. 14, 2017 at the United Center in Chicago, we got another battle between the top-two teams in the nation. #1 Duke held serve, 88-81, over #2 Michigan State. Grayson Allen was incredible, scoring 37 points and three rebounds on 55% shooting. In the second matchup, #4 Kansas took down #7 Kentucky, 65-61. Graham had 11 points, while Malik Newman scored 12 points. The Jayhawks take this one because they were the only of the four teams who went 2-0 versus Champions Classic programs. Kansas beat Duke in overtime, 85-81, in the Elite Eight. Kansas finished the season 31-8 and once again lost to eventual champions Villanova, this time in the Final Four. Michigan State went 30-5 this year, while Duke compiled a 29-8 record.

2017-18 Standings:

1. Kansas (37, 2-0)

2. Duke (33, 1-1)

3. Michigan State (31, 0-1)

4. Kentucky (28, 0-1)

Michigan State wins second championship with late season win over Duke: For the second time, our champion did not win a game in the initial Champions Classic. #10 Michigan State fell to #1 Kansas, 92-87, on opening night, but they would get a chance later in the season to make up for it. Quentin Grimes had a team-high 21 points on 60% shooting from three-point range against the Spartans. #4 Duke capped off the night with a memorable 118-84 blowout over #2 Kentucky. RJ Barrett had 33 points, six assists, and four rebounds in the win. Zion Williams dropped 28 points and seven rebounds on 84.6% shooting from the field. Even with all of that potential, the Blue Devils fell to Michigan State, 68-67, in the Elite Eight. Because of that, the Spartans are crowned champions. Virginia won it all in real life.

2018-19 Standings:

1. Michigan State (37, 1-1)

2. Duke (36, 1-1)

3. Kentucky (34, 1-1)

4. Kansas (28, 1-1)

Kentucky gets their second ring behind freshman phenom: Since the Champions Classic happened just last night on Tuesday, Nov. 6, we still have a whole season to truly determine who would take the crown. But for now, we're going to give it to John Calipari and the Wildcats. In the first game, #4 Duke defeated #3 Kansas, 68-66, behind Tyus Jones and his 15 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Devon Dotson had 17 points in the loss. #2 Kentucky upset #1 Michigan State in the finale, 69-62, as freshman Tyrese Maxey went off for 26 points and five rebounds on 9-10 shooting from the free throw line. Cassius Winston had 21 points for Michigan State. Because of the win over the top team in the country, Kentucky takes the title. However, Duke and Michigan State play on Dec. 3 so things could change.