Kentucky and Michigan Basketball Announce London Game Followed by Home-and-Home in Next Three Years
By Chris Russo
Two of the top teams in men's college basketball will take their talents across the Atlantic next year.
The Kentucky Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines have just announced that they will face off in London during the 2020-2021 season, the start of a three-year set between the two teams.
Sources: Kentucky and Michigan will play a neutral site game in London in December 2020.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 5, 2019
A home-and-home series will follow starting in Ann Arbor in December 2021.
There will be a return game at Rupp Arena in December 2022.
STORY @NYTSports: https://t.co/jZKXnghbYu
The teams will play at O2 Arena, the site of multiple NBA games over the last few years. This matchup is also part of an agreement between the two programs to play a home-and-home series in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, with the first edition occurring in Ann Arbor.
The London matchup is a fundraiser for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and will also feature a matchup between UMBC and Marist.
Per a Michigan press release, Michigan and Kentucky will indeed play on at O2 Arena in London in December of 2020.https://t.co/WCMHJwZMO6
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) December 5, 2019
Further details on dates, game time, television partner, ticket pricing and tickets will be announced in January of 2020. pic.twitter.com/HWeYb9Vi4I
Though in-season college basketball tournaments have taken place in exotic places, such as The Bahamas and Mexico, it is more rare to see a single game in a foreign country outside North America. The PAC-12 has held games in China over the last couple of years, though NCAA football games overseas have been more prominent, such as Notre Dame and Navy's scheduled matchup in Dublin to start the 2020 season.
As if Kentucky and Michigan did not gain enough press this year from their top-five rankings, there will be an outpouring of financial support, as well as recruiting interest, for both programs in the wake of their trip to foreign soil.