SEC reveals men’s basketball matchups for 2023-24 season. Kentucky’s schedule is stacked.
The Kentucky men’s basketball schedule for the upcoming season is still taking shape, but there was a major development Monday afternoon regarding UK’s 2023-24 slate.
The Wildcats now know who (and where) they will play in the Southeastern Conference this season.
The SEC has revealed its matchups for the 2023-24 campaign, and with the league once again playing an 18-game schedule, it means the Cats will meet five of their conference foes twice over the course of the regular season.
Kentucky’s home-and-away matchups this time will be Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
The latest preseason national rankings from CBS Sports peg Arkansas and Tennessee — at No. 11 and No. 14, respectively — as the top two teams in the SEC for next season. Those rankings also have Mississippi State as the No. 25 team in the country (with UK at No. 17).
The only other SEC team in the CBS preseason rankings is No. 15 Texas A&M, which the Wildcats will also play on the road.
Before the 2015-16 season, it was announced that Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt would be UK’s three permanent home-and-away opponents, and the Cats play two other teams in the league twice under the league’s current scheduling structure.
This will be the second consecutive season in which Kentucky and Arkansas will play twice in the regular season. Georgia was UK’s other home-and-away opponent last season.
The full matchups for Kentucky on the 2023-24 league schedule:
Home: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee, Vanderbilt.
Road: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt.
Specific dates for the SEC men’s basketball slate are typically announced by early September.
This should prove to be a formidable league schedule for what will be an overwhelmingly young Kentucky team. Senior guard Antonio Reeves rejoined the team for the 2023-24 season last week, and the Wildcats landed a commitment from veteran West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell, but those are likely to be the only two upperclassmen on a team projected to be dominated by freshmen, including the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class led by presumptive NBA lottery picks Justin Edwards and DJ Wagner.
The Cats also have some tough games lined up for the non-conference portion of the 2023-24 schedule.
The first marquee matchup on the slate is a Champions Classic meeting with Kansas on Nov. 14. The Jayhawks are No. 1 in both the CBS Sports and ESPN college basketball rankings this summer.
UK will also begin play in a made-for-ESPN league challenge between the SEC and Atlantic Coast Conference this season, and there’s been early speculation that the Cats will face Duke — either in Lexington or Durham — for that event. The Blue Devils are No. 2 in both the CBS Sports and ESPN preseason rankings.
Kentucky also has a home game against Gonzaga, its annual rivalry game against Louisville (on the road this season) as well as the CBS Sports Classic, which will match UK with either North Carolina, Ohio State or UCLA.
The Wildcats’ full 2023-24 schedule will be finalized later this year.
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 12:18 PM.
