St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino. Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Resurgent Big East program to replace UCLA at CBS Sports Classic

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated May 1, 2025 12:53 PM ET

The CBS Sports Classic has made a huge move that's going to lead to massive ratings once the college basketball season rolls back around.

Last season, the classic featured Ohio State, North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA from Madison Square Garden. The Tar Heels beat the Bruins, 76-74, erasing a 16-point second-half deficit in the process. In the second game, Ohio State beat Kentucky in a big way, 85-65. Junior point guard Bruce Thornton dropped 30 points in that contest.

The annual doubleheader has featured North Carolina, Ohio State, Kentucky and UCLA every season since it started in 2014, but there's going to be a huge change this season.

UCLA is being dropped from the classic, while St. John's is being added. Interestingly enough, if the matchups go as expected, that means legendary head coach Rick Pitino and the Red Storm will face Mark Pope and Kentucky.

NEWS: St. John’s is joining the CBS Sports Classic and will play the Kentucky Wildcats this season, according to a source.

The field of four will now be Ohio State, North Carolina, Kentucky and St. John’s.

The Red Storm are replacing UCLA. More details to come. #sjubb
— Dave (@Davee_8) May 1, 2025

Pitino coached Kentucky from 1989-97, winning the national championship in 1996. Ironically enough, Pope was on that Wildcats team that won it all in 1996, and he was no small deal himself then. In fact, he was a team captain.

Pope was hired by Kentucky last offseason to replace John Calipari, and he went 23-11 in his first campaign with a berth in the NCAA Tournament. His Wildcats made it to the Sweet 16 before losing to Tennessee.

Pitino, on the other hand, went 31-5 in his second season back in the Big East at St. John's. The Johnnies won the Big East regular season and conference tournament but fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ironically, it was Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks who knocked the Red Storm out.

This matchup will mark he first time Pitino has coached against Kentucky since 2016. At that time, he was the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals, with whom he also won a national championship (in 2012-13).

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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