By, Damon Knight, Tribune Correspondent
On Tuesday night, the season opener for college basketball officially begins as four teams square off in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. The first of the doubleheader is between No. 3 Kansas as they play No. 4 Duke at 7 PM. And at 9:30, No. 1 Michigan State plays the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats in what should be an epic matchup of 1 vs. 2. Furthermore, its the first time in history that four teams are ranked in the top four in the Champions Classic and are starting off the regular season ranked above everybody else in college basketball. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said, “What a great way to start the season.”
With Michigan State ranked No.1 on the AP Poll, expectations and hype will be at an all-time high for a young Spartans team. Spartan’s Forward Aaron Henry said, “There’s gonna be a lot more fans, a lot more expectations, it’s a lot louder and it’s gonna be a bigger stage,” said Aaron Henry, who made his debut in last year’s Champions Classic just 10 minutes from his home in Indianapolis, when asked what he’d tell the freshmen. “But we’re still playing basketball. You can’t make it bigger than what it is. You gotta be locked and focused. You’ve been through harder things with Coach Izzo in practice than what you’re going to go through in the game. He’s been preparing for this moment. Just keep it basketball and you’ll be fine. Don’t make it something bigger than what it is.” The projected line-up for tonight’s game against Kentucky consist of, PG Cassius Winston, SG Josh Langford, SF, Aaron Henry, F Kyle Ahrens and C Xavier Tillman. Players to watch for in tonight game are, PG Cassius Winston and SG Josh Langford. Winston, 21, is a nation player of the year candidate and his counter part Langford, 22, is returning from injury that left him out for the majority of last year. He’ll bring senior leadership and a mid-range shot that this team desperately needs.
