The network announced Thursday that St. John will replace UCLA in CBS Sports Classic and will face Kentucky next season.

The two-headed players of the four teams of the year will debut in 2014 and feature North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky and UCLA in each of the past 11 seasons. The 2025 event will be held at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

The game puts St. John coach Rick Pitino with his former school and Kentucky coach Mark Pope. The two teams also ranked in the top 10 of ESPN's top 25 in April.

"I think we should be in all the greatest Christmas gifts from Johnny and BBN in Catlanta on December 20. What do you say?" The Pope told Pitino in a social media video announcing the game.

Pitino coached at Kentucky from 1989 to 1997 and led the Wildcats to the national championship in 1996. When the Pope was elected to replace John Calipari, Pitino praised the employee and made a appearance at Big Blue Madness in October.

Pitino left the Wildcats to join the Boston Celtics for the NBA, returned to Louisville in 2001 to play a college coach against Kentucky 6-12. St. John's Kentucky will be Pitino's first game against the Wildcats since 2016.

"Obviously, Kentucky is Camelot to me, and I've said it a lot," Pitino said in a statement. "So now, against the captain (the pope), who did a lot of special moments for me and the team, was very special in a fight that CBS had. I'll remember it for a long time."

Pitino led St. John's to lead the Big East regular season and conference championships in his second season in 2024-25, while the Pope directed Kentucky to Sweet 16 in his debut campaign.

Although the reasons for the UCLA evacuation have not been made public, Bruins coach Mick Cronin has no secretly disguised his disdain for the team’s trip schedule in the Big Ten. The UCLA and the Top 10 West Coast Team (UCLA) face the toughest trips of any Power Conference team in the country.

"We have to go back four times," Cronin said in January. "Oh, the top 10 teams come to Los Angeles once a year, and it's 70 degrees. They don't even have to switch hotels. We're 12 miles apart. Are you kidding? Tell me you're kidding me.

"We've seen the Statue of Liberty twice in the last three weeks of landing. We've also seen the building of the Capitol. We still have to go back and then we have to go back for the Big Ten Championships. They do it once."

Also in January, when discussing how UCLA came back on a road trip early in the morning and then played a longer break with a team a few days later, Cronin said: “When you sell your soul to TV, that’s it.”