LEXINGTON ? The Kentucky men?s soccer team travels to Fort Wayne, Ind., this weekend for a pair of exhibition games against Michigan State and St. John?s in the prestigious IPFW/adidas Classic.

The Wildcats open with the Spartans on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on the Red Storm on Sunday at Noon. The exhibitions come after Kentucky has had just five practices to prepare.

?I think it?s very helpful to get into games right now,? said head coach Ian Collins. ?We?re only two days into preseason practice, so it?s good to see what some guys can do in game situations.?

The games should provide an immediate test for the Wildcats. Michigan State posted an 11-5-2 record last seasons while St. John?s was 17-6-3 and reached the national championship game. The Red Storm enter the season ranked No. 2 nationally by collegesoccernews.com.

?The last few years, we?ve been in this classic and it?s great,? Collins said. ?I think we?ve competed well in it. Our guys will get a chance to compete against the best early and see where they?re at.?

The games will also be a good opportunity for Kentucky to play a number of new players and see where they fit in.

?We?ll play a lot of guys this weekend. A lot of guys will get a chance,? said Collins. ?The result is not the most important thing. You want to go out and compete hard, but the most important thing is to see where the guys fitness level is and see how close they are ready to play.?

The game St. John?s contest will be a reunion of sorts for Collins, who coached for the Red Storm under Dave Masur for three seasons prior to coming to Kentucky.

?It will be a special game for me,? Collins said. ?It?s the first time I?ll get to coach against Dave Masur, so that should be fun. It?s a guy I have tremendous amount of respect for.?