A bijection $ψ$ is defined between the prime spectrum of quantum $SL_3$ and the Poisson prime spectrum of $SL_3$, and we verify that $ψ$ and $ψ^{-1}$ both preserve inclusions of primes, i.e. that $ψ$ is in fact a homeomorphism between these two spaces. This is accomplished by developing a Poisson analogue of Brown and Goodearl's framework for describing the Zariski topology of spectra of quantum algebras, and then verifying directly that in the case of $SL_3$ these give rise to identical pictures on both the quantum and Poisson sides. As part of this analysis, we study the Poisson primitive spectrum of $\mathcal{O}(SL_3)$ and obtain explicit generating sets for all of the Poisson primitive ideals.

Minor updates, clarifications, etc throughout the text. To appear in Transactions of the London Mathematical Society