Michigan State vs. Kentucky: Champions Classic 2016 Start Time and Live Stream

College basketball fans have a number of high-profile showdowns to choose from when watching the first full week of competition, but few stand out as much as the clash between the Michigan State Spartans and Kentucky Wildcats.

It is the first game of a doubleheader in this year's loaded Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The second contest features a battle between the Duke Blue Devils and Kansas Jayhawks.

Michigan State and Kentucky kick things off at 7 p.m. ET and will be live streamed on WatchESPN. Here is a look at a preview and prediction.

Breakdown and Prediction

Al Goldis/Associated Press

The Champions Classic started in 2011 and features these four as an early-season treat. Kentucky and Michigan State both figure to compete for a Final Four spot this season seeing as how they are Nos. 2 and 13 in the Associated Press Top 25, respectively.

Kentucky enters the game with a 2-0 record after straightforward victories over Stephen F. Austin and Canisius, while Michigan State is 0-1 after a narrow two-point loss to Arizona. 

According to ESPN, the Wildcats and Spartans have only played each other once in the last 10 seasons, and that was the 2013 Champions Classic. Michigan State won, 78-74, and enjoys a 4-1 record in the last five matchups.

However, it will have to face a dangerous Kentucky team that once again features a list of talented freshmen. Scout ranked coach John Calipari's class as the second-best in the nation behind only Duke, which will help him make up for the loss of Marcus Lee, Skal Labissiere, Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis.

Matthew Giles of the Washington Post said the Wildcats will be without 69 percent of their minutes from 2015-16, but the versatile combination of Edrice Adebayo, Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones, De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk will carry the squad.

Adebayo, Gabriel and Killeya-Jones can control the glass and score on the low blocks, while Monk and Fox bring plenty of athleticism that allows them to get out in transition or attack the rim off the bounce.

Giles said "this will be the fastest team Calipari has coached in years, and the team will look to often turn its defensive rebounding prowess into transition attempts."

That will be a problem for Michigan State, which was a mere 266th in the nation in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted tempo rankings last season. It was 268th the previous season, and coach Tom Izzo's teams are often not eager to run up and down, which the Wildcats will try from the opening tip.

While the freshmen are the ones to watch, Calipari has sophomore Isaiah Briscoe back to spearhead the defense. That will prove critical against the Spartans' tandem of Eron Harris and Miles Bridges.

Harris scored 9.3 points a night last season for the Spartans, but he will need to take on more of a scoring role in 2016-17 with Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes no longer on the roster. He proved he was capable of scoring in volume in 2013-14 when he was with West Virginia and posted 17.2 points per game.

Bridges is a versatile freshman at 6'7" who has soft touch on his shot, impressive ball-handling skills and the ability to find open teammates with veteran-like court vision.

Izzo commented on Bridges, per Matt Charboneau of the Detroit News:

"

He's a blue-collar superstar, if you ask me. He's got a lot of work to do, he's got to get better at some things and needs to make a lot of progress, but he's been fun to coach and has been a great teammate. Sometimes guys come in with high accolades and are not good teammates. He's been a great teammate.

"

The Spartans will need Bridges and Harris even more because of their injury problems in the frontcourt. According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, forward Gavin Schilling suffered a knee injury that required surgery after big man Ben Carter already went down with a knee injury.

Kentucky will control the boards against a depleted Michigan State frontcourt, which will turn into those fast-break opportunities it will thrive on all season. Briscoe will slow Harris and Bridges enough to give the Wildcats an early lead, and they will ride it to a statement nonconference win.

Prediction: Kentucky 78, Michigan State 68