Kentucky's non-conference schedule loaded with star attractions

Opponents include defending national champion Duke, the all-time leader in national championships in UCLA, Ohio State, Kansas and Louisville.

The venues include the United Center in Chicago, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, American Airlines Arena in Miami and iconic college arenas such as Allen Fieldhouse and Pauley Pavilion.

On Thursday, Kentucky announced a non-conference schedule for next season that glitters with starry attractions.

Overall, UK will play six programs that played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Cats will play Duke in the Champions Classic in the United Center in Chicago on Nov. 17.

"Putting a schedule together, especially one like this, is fun," Coach John Calipari said in a news release. "Having to play those games is a different story. To understate it, this will obviously be a challenging schedule for a young team like ours, which lost more than 85 percent of its scoring and nearly 80 percent of its rebounding. We're excited for the challenge."

The schedule includes eight home games highlighted by dates with Louisville and Arizona State. The Sun Devils and newly hired head coach Bobby Hurley, who directed his former team Buffalo to one of the more competitive games against the Cats in 2014, will come to town Dec. 12. The game with the Sun Devils begins a three-week stretch against power-five conference opponents: Ohio State in Brooklyn on Dec. 19 and Louisville on Dec. 26 in Rupp Arena.

The season begins with home games on back-to-back days against America East champion Albany on Nov. 13 and the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Nov. 14.

After playing Duke in Chicago, Kentucky will return home to play Wright State (Nov. 20) and Boston (Nov. 24). A home game against Illinois State concludes the month of November. On Dec. 9, UK hosts Eastern Kentucky.

UK's 2015 Southeastern Conference schedule, featuring nine home games and nine away games, has not been released. It's the fourth straight year the SEC will feature an 18-game schedule.

Dates for Big Blue Madness, the Blue-White Scrimmage and exhibition contests, and complete game times and TV information will be announced later.

This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Kentucky's non-conference schedule loaded with star attractions."