A Showcase Start to the College Basketball Season in N.Y.C.

A blue blood extravaganza was kicking off the start of the 2019-20 college basketball season on Tuesday night, with one very realistic permutation of the Final Four playing a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden.

Michigan State, the No. 1 team in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, lost to No. 2 Kentucky, 69-62, after No. 4 Duke defeated No. 3 Kansas, 68-66, in the opener of the Champions Classic.

There’s a good chance the 2020 N.C.A.A. champion will emerge from this quartet. The four teams, along with North Carolina and Florida, are the favorites among sports books to win the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament title, with Michigan State on top at 6-1 odds.

The Spartans are returning three players from a team that made a run to the Final Four last season, led by an All-American, Cassius Winston, in his senior season.

Source: The New York Times

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