Kentucky-North Carolina to headline doubleheader at T-Mobile Arena

The Kentucky bench and coach John Calipari, left, follow the final seconds of a second-round men's college basketball game against Indiana in the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, March 19, 2016. Indiana won 73-67. (Nati Harnik/AP)

Newly opened T-Mobile Arena will become the center of the college basketball universe in mid-December.

Traditional powers Kentucky and North Carolina will headline the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 17 at the Strip arena. UCLA will play Ohio State in the other game of the doubleheader.

Those games come a week after UNLV plays Duke at T-Mobile. UNLV has not unveiled its nonconference schedule, but the date with Duke has been established for months.

The matchups for the CBS Sports Classic have been announced on all four schools’ websites, but times as well as TV and ticket information have not been released. The arena has not made an announcement.

ESPN.com projects Kentucky as the nation’s No. 3 team in its early preseason rankings and North Carolina at No. 6. Kentucky advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, and the Tar Heels reached the championship game before losing 77-74 to Villanova on a buzzer beater.

Sports Illustrated also picks Kentucky at No. 3 but has North Carolina at No. 8..

Both teams figure to contend again for the national championship, with the Wildcats led by guard Malik Monk and the Tar Heels by point guard Joel Berry II and forward Isaiah Hicks

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65