Ohio State’s Men’s Basketball Matchup With UNC Switched To UCLA In CBS Sports Classic

The Ohio State men’s basketball team’s schedule has been altered again by COVID-19. 

Just three days ahead of the CBS Sports Classic, it was announced the Buckeyes will face UCLA, instead of North Carolina, on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 4:15 p.m. at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

The change was made Wednesday, Dec. 16 based on the COVID-19 protocols of the participating program’s conferences. 

“The revised schedule was created to more closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences,” the CBS Sports Classic said in a statement.

Both the Big Ten and Pac-12, where the Bruins reside, require daily antigen testing, but the SEC and ACC, where Kentucky and UNC play, do not. 

The revised schedule now features a matchup between North Carolina and Kentucky at 2 p.m., prior to the Buckeyes battle with the Bruins at 4:15 p.m.

The Scarlet and Gray are 3-3 in the CBS Sports Classic, having last played in 2018, when they defeated the Bruins, 80-66, at the United Center in Chicago. 

UCLA is unranked at 5-1 but received votes in the recent AP poll, while Ohio State was ranked No. 20. The Tar Heels are ranked No. 22.

Photo courtesy of Dept. of Ohio State Athletics.

For four free issues of the print edition of Buckeye Sports Bulletin, no card required, sign up at the link here: http://www.buckeyesports.com/subscribe-4issue-trial/