Updated: July 11, 2012, 3:59 pm ET

Powerhouses highlight college hoops opener

By HOOPSWORLD
Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Defending national champion Kentucky will be tested immediately in 2012, kicking off the season in the twin main event of the State Farm Champions Classic against Duke on Nov. 13.

Duke and Kentucky meet for the first time since 2001, following Michigan State and Kansas in a double-header at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The games are part of the daylong college basketball marathon presented by ESPN, beginning with West Virginia at Gonzaga tipping off at midnight ET.

Davidson plays at New Mexico at 2 a.m. ET and Houston Baptist is hosted by Hawaii at 4 a.m. ET.

The morning schedule leading up to the Atlanta headliners: Stony Brook at Rider (6 a.m. ET), Northern Illinois at Valparaiso (8 a.m. ET), Harvard at UMass (10 a.m. ET), Temple at Kent State (noon ET), Detroit at St. John’s (2 p.m. ET) and Butler at Xavier (4 p.m. ET).

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