What to know about the three newest opponents on the 2023-24 Kentucky basketball schedule
Another batch of Kentucky basketball opponents for the 2023-24 schedule emerged in recent days, with more details revealed regarding the Wildcats’ annual multi-team event for the upcoming season.
Saint Joseph’s announced its 2023-24 non-conference schedule Friday, and that slate included a game against Kentucky in Rupp Arena, scheduled for Nov. 20. The Hawks’ schedule also included home games against Stonehill College and Texas A&M University-Commerce. All three games are part of the Wildcat Challenge, a multi-team event (MTE) hosted by UK.
As part of that event, the Cats will host all three of those teams. Scheduling documents obtained by the Herald-Leader show that Kentucky is slated to play all three games in this year’s MTE in Rupp Arena between the dates of Nov. 10 and Nov. 20.
The Cats also have a Nov. 14 game scheduled against Kansas, the likely preseason No. 1 team in the country, as part of the Champions Classic in Chicago.
The only other UK game with a confirmed date for this season is the Nov. 28 matchup with Miami in Rupp Arena as part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.
Kentucky will also play Gonzaga in Rupp, travel to Louisville for its annual rivalry game with the Cardinals, and play either North Carolina, Ohio State or UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 16, in addition to the 18-game Southeastern Conference schedule and a few other home games that have not yet been announced.
The Wildcats’ full 2023-24 schedule will be revealed later this year. Here’s a look at the three other teams that will be part of the Wildcat Challenge this season.
Saint Joseph’s
The Hawks, entering their fifth season under Coach Billy Lange, finished the 2022-23 mark with a 16-17 overall record and an 8-10 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished 191st in the final KenPom rankings last season.
Saint Joseph’s has improved its conference record in each of the past four years under Lange, and the Hawks might be due for another step forward this season. The early Torvik ratings for the 2023-24 campaign project Saint Joseph’s as the No. 129 team in the country, with all three of the team’s top scorers from last season — Erik Reynolds II, Cameron Brown and Lynn Greer III — returning as upperclassmen.
This will be just the third meeting between St. Joseph’s and Kentucky — the last coming when the Cats defeated the Hawks in the 1997 NCAA Tournament on their way to the national title game. Saint Joe’s has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2016, and the Hawks have won just one March Madness game since their Elite Eight run in 2004.
Stonehill College
The Skyhawks are entering their second season as a Division I program and will not be eligible for the NCAA Tournament until the 2026–27 season due to rules governing the transition process.
Stonehill — located in Easton, Mass. — advanced to the Division II Final Four in 2006 and 2012. In its first season at the D-I level, Stonehill managed to finish in a tie for second place in the nine-team Northeast Conference, though that league was rated as the worst of 32 conferences by KenPom, which pegged the Skyhawks at No. 331 nationally last season.
The early Torvik ratings have Stonehill at No. 335 for the 2023-24 season. The team lost four of its top five scorers from the 2022-23 campaign.
Texas A&M-Commerce
The Lions are also entering year two of the transition from Division II to Division I basketball, finishing with a 13-20 record and a 9-9 mark in the Southland Conference last season. That was the No. 30 league in the country in 2022-23, according to KenPom, which had Texas A&M-Commerce at No. 307 nationally in its final rankings.
The program loses its top two scorers from a season ago, but it will return three of its top six scorers overall. The Torvik ratings have the Lions at No. 320 nationally (out of 361 total teams) this preseason.
Texas A&M-Commerce won the NAIA national championship in 1955 and moved to NCAA Division II status in the early 1980s. The Lions made the D-II national quarterfinals in 1997 and 2005. They’ll be eligible for the NCAA Tournament starting with the 2026-27 season.
The Lions will open the 2023-24 season at SEC foe Texas A&M on Nov. 6.
This story was originally published July 31, 2023 at 7:10 AM.
