The Kentucky Wildcats' (20) matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks (4) may well be the highlight of the Big 12 - SEC Challenge, but neither team is in a familiar position.

Kentucky is in the thick of a conference race with surprising seasons from Texas A&M, LSU, and South Carolina. Kansas is findings its 11-year Big 12 regular season title streak in jeopardy as they compete in a crowded conference race.

Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET in Lawrence, Kansas

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Kentucky and Kansas have benefited from having two of the most consistently successful coaches in college basketball in John Calipari and Bill Self, respectively. While Calipari produces elite freshmen year in and year out, Self has proven himself a gifted player developer.

Regardless, both programs stand out and have stood out long before either coach took over. Kentucky has the most wins in Division I college basketball history with 2,194 and Kansas is second with 2,169, according to the Jayhawks' official website.

Calipari and Self are meeting for the fifth time, the first of which came in the 2008 National Championship game, a win for Kansas. Calipari has taken the last three matchups.

"To win those kinds of games as an opponent you've got to be careful of runs and 3s," Calipari said at a news conference ahead of the game. "Really in a game like this you're just trying to give yourself a chance to win the game. You're not trying to go and blow anybody out because it's just unusual."