When it comes to college basketball’s “blueblood” programs, they don’t get much bluer than Kentucky and Duke. These two programs face off Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta.

Great Britain has eight national championships and the most wins in college basketball history. Duke has won five titles and is fourth on the all-time wins list. The series between the two teams was even, with Kentucky winning twelve times to Duke’s eleven.

There are obviously a number of memorable games between these two programs. In 1978, Jack Givens led Kentucky past Duke to give Great Britain its fifth NCAA championship. In 1992, Kentucky fans will remember what happened in Philadelphia during the NCAA Tournament regional final. Six years later, Tubby Smith’s Comeback Cats got past Duke in the regional finals in Tampa, winning and ultimately claiming Britain’s seventh national title.

Now the programs will meet again, the first meeting between the schools since 2021. That season, ninth-ranked Duke held off No. 10 Kentucky 79-71 at Madison Square Garden.

This season’s teams are both off to a solid start. Kentucky won both regular season games, and did so in style. The Cats defeated Wright State 103-62 to open the 2024-25 season before topping Bucknell 100-72 on Saturday.

Kentucky currently has seven players averaging double figures in scoring. Koby Brea leads the team, averaging 19 points per game, while Otega Oweh is averaging 15.5 points. Amari Williams (12.5 ppg), Jaxson Robinson (11 ppg), Andrew Carr (11 ppg), Lamont Butler (10 ppg) and Ansley Almonor (10 ppg) are also double-digit scorers. Williams also averages 13.5 rebounds per game.

On Monday, Oweh faced the media and he said Cats are ready to play in this high-profile game.

“Pretty excited,” Oweh said. “We look at it as a normal game, but when you travel and play in an arena other than your own, it’s always exciting. It’s always exciting to see where we are and we’ll see how our work we put in during the offseason will pay off.”

Oweh and the Cats are hoping their maturity can be significant on Tuesday night against the Blue Devils.

“I think it plays a big role. We’ve all been here, we’ve all played big games, played against a rival. We’ve all been to that area. We just try to follow the same approach as if we were playing a normal game. We’re a mature group and we know we can’t go out and just play differently because it’s a different arena. We must stick to our principles.”

Duke has easily won both early season games. The Blue Devils topped Maine 96-62 and then defeated Army West Point 100-58. Kon Knueppel leads Duke in scoring through two games, averaging 18.5 points per game, while freshman phenom Cooper Flagg is averaging 15.5 points and nine rebounds per game.

The Kentucky-Duke game follows the first game of the evening, which features Kansas and Michigan State. The UK-Duke match is scheduled for 9 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN.