Getty Aaron Henry #11 and the Michigan State Spartans kick off their season against Kentucky Tuesday. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
It’ll be a battle of the nation’s top teams when the No. 1 Michigan State Spartans kick off their season by taking on the No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats at Madison Square Garden Tuesday in the Champions Classic.
The game is scheduled to start at about 9:30 p.m. ET (depending on when Kansas-Duke ends) and will be televised on ESPN. If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV Stick or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Hulu With Live TV comes with Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies and 60-plus live TV channels, including ESPN.
You can sign up for Hulu with Live TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Kentucky vs MSU on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app if you sign in using your Hulu credentials.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” bundle comes with 25-plus live TV channels, including ESPN.
You can start a free seven-day trial of Sling TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Kentucky vs MSU on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app if you sign in using your Sling TV credentials.
If you can’t watch live, cloud DVR is available as an add-on.
YouTube TV comes with 70-plus live TV channels, including ESPN.
You can sign up for YouTube TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Kentucky vs MSU on your computer via the YouTube website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the YouTube app. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app if you sign in using your YouTube TV credentials.
If you can’t watch live, YouTube TV comes with included DVR.
Michigan State vs Kentucky Preview
Spartans coach Tom Izzo and his team enter this game with huge expectations awaiting them this season: according to oddsmakers, they’re predicted to win the NCAA tournament in 2020. Izzo and Company will have their work cut out for them, as they begin their season more than a bit banged up.
Michigan State guard Joshua Langford, who is out with a foot injury, likely won’t see the court until January. Sophomore Kyle Kithier will play–although he will be doing so with a broken nose–and both freshman Rocket Watts and senior Kyle Ahrens are also currently battling injuries. The Spartans will rely heavily on player of the year candidate Cassius Winston, who averaged 18.8 points and 7.5 assists last year. Winston will be the team’s most dangerous player this year, and the Wildcats will have their hands full trying to contain him.
On the other side, the Wildcats will be led by EJ Montgomery, Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans. Hagans, the reigning co-SEC Defensive Player of the Year, had 61 steals last season, and he will be looking to continue his stingy defense against what will likely be one of the toughest teams he’ll see all year.
Kentucky should also get a boost from sophomore Immanuel Quickley, who led the Wildcats in scoring in their exhibition games this year, averaging 15.5 points per game. Transfer Nate Sestina also could be a major factor in this game. In the Wildcats two exhibition games, Sestina averaged 12 points and nine rebounds, and he looked like a formidable front court force. The Wildcats are definite underdogs in this game, and they’ll have to play near-perfect ball to bear these Spartans.
Kentucky is 1-1 against Michigan State in the Championship Classic. This will be only the second time in NCAA Division I history where the top two teams in the nation kicked off the season by playing each other.