The Champions Classic is often a good early-season indicator of which of the four college basketball blue bloods in attendance have a chance to be elite. The games can reset narratives — remember Zion Williamson’s explosion onto the scene in 2018 or Kentucky making Bill Self wish he could turn water to vodka in 2014?

A Kentucky team made up of veteran players leaned on their experience Tuesday night against a young Duke squad to secure the Wildcats' first Champions Classic win since 2020.