Home / Sports / Pitino Faces Wildcats in CBS Classic Showdown
Pitino Faces Wildcats in CBS Classic Showdown
20 Dec, 2025
Summary
- Rick Pitino, former Kentucky coach, leads St. John's against Wildcats.
- The 2025 CBS Sports Classic features the No. 22 St. John's Red Storm.
- The game will tip off at 12:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta.
The No. 22 St. John's Red Storm, coached by Rick Pitino, are set to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday in the 2025 CBS Sports Classic. Pitino previously coached Kentucky for eight seasons, leading them to a national championship in 1996. This season, Kentucky has a 7-4 record, while St. John's stands at 7-3 overall.
The matchup, scheduled for tipoff at 12:30 p.m. ET from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, sees St. John's favored by 2.5 points. A SportsLine Projection Model simulation of 10,000 games predicts an over on the total of 155.5 points, noting both teams' high scoring averages exceeding 80 points per game and a consistent 48% field goal percentage.
Individual player projections show St. John's Bryce Hopkins scoring 12.5 points and Kentucky's Otega Oweh contributing 13.1 points in the simulations. The model anticipates the combined score will reach 159 points, with the over hitting over 50% of the time. Additionally, one side of the spread is projected to hit nearly 60% of the time.
