Nov 12, 2013 05:15 PM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Tom Izzo and his No. 2 ranked Michigan State Spartans are used to playing one of the toughest out-of-conference schedules in the country.

"It prepares us for the tournament," said senior MSU guard Keith Appling, who will later face No. 12 North Carolina and Texas before beginning Big Ten play, ESPN reported. "A lot of the teams we play in our non-conference season are some of teams that we'll end up playing in the tournament. Or are teams that are similar to these teams we'll be playing. So I feel it helps us out in the long run, and also prepares us for the tough Big Ten season."

Based on the past week, Kentucky head coach John Calipari and his No. 1 ranked wildcats aren't. He said his team's early season schedule was "unfair," according to Kentuckysports.com and wondered aloud in an interview with ESPN's Seth Greenberg (see bottom) how his young squad could possibly compete with a veteran group like Michigan State at this point in the season.

Calipari, of course, is one of the slickest talkers in the game. While there's certainly an ounce of truth in Calipari's statements - his team missed the tournament last year and has eight freshmen on its roster - there is more than an ounce of motivation. The 2012 national championship winning coach has six top recruits, three of which rank #1 at their position and one of which is potential #1 NBA pick Julius Randle (some believe he'll outshine Wiggins by the end of the year), according to Sports Illustrated. Before the season, Calipari said, "For eight years I've said that before I retire I'd like to coach a team that goes 40-0." Clearly, he has high expectations for this unit, even if it is early and even if it is Michigan State.

The two teams face each other tonight at 7:30 pm E.T. on ESPN in the one of the most anticipated, pre-march college basketball double headers possibly of all time. Number four Duke and number five Kansas follow at 9:30 pm E.T.

Fans who paid for the double header have a true golden ticket as both games will be played at the United Center in Chicago, ESPN reported. Teams ranked this high rarely play each other at all, much less so early in the season. The last time the top ranked team faced the second ranked team was in 2008 when Calipari's Memphis Tigers attempted to defend its number one spot against number two Tennessee, according to SI.

Not only are four of the top five teams in the country playing tonight (missing only Louisville at #3), but at least three of the top five projected picks in next year's NBA draft are also playing, including one of the most hyped prospects since Lebron James, Kansas's Andrew Wiggins.

Besides Duke's Jabari Parker and Kentucky's Julius Randle, look out for the Harrison twins on Kentucky, and guards Keith Appling and Gary Harris on Michigan State.

Live radio broadcast here. 

Calipari "admits defeat" below.

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