How many current college basketball teams haven’t played Kentucky? More than you’d think.
The Kentucky men’s basketball program is an institution, both within the commonwealth and in the larger scope of college basketball history.
The Wildcats have won eight national championships and more than 2,400 games overall.
But when UK’s schedule came out this year, it became clear that Kentucky was going to accomplish four things during the 2024-25 season that the storied program had never done before.
This season’s Kentucky basketball schedule features a quartet of first-time opponents for the Wildcats.
On Nov. 9, UK faced the first of these foes, Bucknell, in the second game of the regular season. The Wildcats handily won that contest, 100-72, using that victory as a springboard for a Champions Classic victory over Duke just a few days later.
On Nov. 22, Kentucky toppled Jackson State by a mammoth 108-59 scoreline at Rupp Arena.
On Dec. 11, Kentucky vanquished Colgate by a 78-67 score. UK scored the first 17 points of that game, but the Raiders battled back and even led the Wildcats during the second half.
And on Tuesday afternoon, the Wildcats played the final of their first-time opponents for (at least) the regular season.
Kentucky beat Brown, 88-54, at Rupp Arena in a New Year’s Eve matinee that also served as UK’s first game against the Ivy League school.
There are currently more than 360 schools playing NCAA Division I men’s basketball. This includes programs that are transitioning from lower NCAA divisions up to the D-I level. Several of these schools are currently ineligible to play in the Division I NCAA Tournament while they complete their transition periods.
Kentucky played two such schools — East Texas A&M (previously known as Texas A&M University-Commerce) and Stonehill — last season. Another school located in the commonwealth, Bellarmine, recently completed the Division I transition process itself.
With this all in mind, how many current Division I schools are still yet to face Kentucky men’s basketball on the hardwood?
Here’s a breakdown of which schools are still yet to play against the Cats.
More than 100 current college teams still haven’t played Kentucky
Of the more than 360 schools that are currently playing Division I men’s college basketball, more than 100 schools still haven’t played Kentucky.
These schools come in all shapes and sizes, too.
They range in history from the likes of Boston College — which has played college basketball since 1904 — to Mercyhurst and West Georgia, two schools new to the Division I level this season.
Fun fact, Boston College is the only current power conference school to have never played Kentucky in men’s basketball.
These schools also vary in on-court success.
Plenty of them are small institutions that have never played in the Division I NCAA Tournament before. Like East Texas A&M and Stonehill, several other schools — such as Le Moyne and Queens — are currently ineligible for March Madness due to the NCAA’s reclassification process.
But other schools that Kentucky has never played before boast notable college basketball success. UK has never played either George Mason or VCU, two schools with Final Four appearances in the last 20 years.
Kentucky has also never played against San Diego State, the school that current UK player Lamont Butler led to the national title game in 2023.
The list of current Division I programs that Kentucky has never played against spans the country, stretching all the way from the University of California San Diego in the West to New Hampshire in the East, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the South to North Dakota State near the Canadian border in Fargo.
For all the unfamiliarity that you may have with some schools on this list, one omission from the long history of UK men’s basketball opponents can be found right here in the commonwealth.
UK and Murray State have still never played each other in men’s college hoops. The two schools would have played in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, if not for UK’s infamous upset loss to Saint Peter’s in the opening round.
Without further ado, here are the 113 schools currently at the NCAA Division I level— and their conference affiliations — that UK men’s basketball has never played against.
These 113 schools represent nearly one-third of all the schools currently at the D-I level.
Current NCAA Division I schools that UK basketball hasn’t played against
Schools are listed in alphabetical order.
▪ Alabama A&M (SWAC)
▪ Alabama State (SWAC)
▪ Arkansas-Pine Bluff (SWAC)
▪ Bethune Cookman (SWAC)
▪ Binghamton (America East)
▪ Boston College (ACC)
▪ Bryant (America East)
▪ Cal Baptist (WAC)
▪ Cal Poly (Big West)
▪ Cal State Bakersfield (Big West)
▪ Cal State Fullerton (Big West)
▪ Central Connecticut State (Northeast Conference)
▪ Charleston Southern (Big South)
▪ Chicago State (Northeast Conference)
▪ Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt)
▪ Colorado State (Mountain West)
▪ Cal State Northridge (Big West)
▪ Delaware (Coastal Athletic Association)
▪ Denver (Summit League)
▪ Drake (Missouri Valley Conference)
▪ Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley Conference)
▪ Eastern Washington (Big Sky)
▪ Elon (Coastal Athletic Association)
▪ Fairfield (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
▪ Florida Gulf Coast (ASUN Conference)
▪ Fordham (Atlantic 10)
▪ Fresno State (Mountain West)
▪ George Mason (Atlantic 10)
▪ Georgia Southern (Sun Belt)
▪ Grambling State (SWAC)
▪ Houston Christian (Southland Conference)
▪ Idaho State (Big Sky)
▪ Incarnate Word (Southland Conference)
▪ Indiana State (Missouri Valley Conference)
▪ James Madison (Sun Belt)
▪ Kansas City (Summit League)
▪ Kennesaw State (Conference USA)
▪ Le Moyne (Northeast Conference)
▪ Lehigh (Patriot League)
▪ Lindenwood (Ohio Valley Conference)
▪ Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt)
▪ Louisiana Tech (Conference USA)
▪ Loyola Marymount (West Coast Conference)
▪ Manhattan (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
▪ Maryland-Eastern Shore (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
▪ McNeese State (Southland Conference)
▪ Mercyhurst (Northeast Conference)
▪ Merrimack (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
▪ Milwaukee (Horizon League)
▪ Missouri State (Missouri Valley Conference)
▪ Morgan State (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
▪ Murray State (Missouri Valley Conference)
▪ Nebraska-Omaha (Summit League)
▪ Nevada (Mountain West)
▪ New Hampshire (America East)
▪ New Mexico (Mountain West)
▪ New Orleans (Southland Conference)
▪ Nicholls State (Southland Conference)
▪ Norfolk State (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
▪ North Alabama (ASUN Conference)
▪ North Carolina A&T (Coastal Athletic Association)
▪ North Carolina Central (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
▪ North Dakota State (Summit League)
▪ North Texas (American)
▪ Northeastern (Coastal Athletic Association)
▪ Northern Arizona (Big Sky)
▪ Northern Illinois (MAC)
▪ Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley Conference)
▪ Oral Roberts (Summit League)
▪ Pacific (West Coast Conference)
▪ Prairie View A&M (SWAC)
▪ Presbyterian (Big South)
▪ Queens (ASUN Conference)
▪ Quinnipiac (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
▪ Rice (American)
▪ Sacramento State (Big Sky)
▪ Sacred Heart (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
▪ Saint Francis (Northeast Conference)
▪ Saint Mary’s (West Coast Conference)
▪ San Diego State (Mountain West)
▪ Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
▪ Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Ohio Valley Conference)
▪ South Alabama (Sun Belt)
▪ South Dakota (Summit League)
▪ Southeast Missouri State (Ohio Valley Conference)
▪ Southeastern Louisiana (Southland Conference)
▪ Southern Indiana (Ohio Valley Conference)
▪ Southern Miss (Sun Belt)
▪ Southern Utah (WAC)
▪ St. Thomas (Summit League)
▪ Stetson (ASUN Conference)
▪ Tarleton State (WAC)
▪ Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Southland Conference)
▪ The Citadel (Southern)
▪ Towson (Coastal Athletic Association)
▪ UC Davis (Big West)
▪ UC Irvine (Big West)
▪ UC Riverside (Big West)
▪ UC San Diego (Big West)
▪ UC Santa Barbara (Big West)
▪ UMass Lowell (America East)
▪ University of Maryland, Baltimore County (America East)
▪ USC Upstate (Big South)
Note: Kentucky played an exhibition game at Rupp Arena against USC Upstate in November 2006, when USC Upstate was still at the NCAA Division II level.
▪ University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (Southland Conference)
▪ Utah Tech (WAC)
▪ UTSA (American)
▪ VCU (Atlantic-10)
▪ Wagner (Northeast Conference)
▪ Weber State (Big Sky)
▪ West Georgia (ASUN Conference)
▪ Western Illinois (Ohio Valley Conference)
▪ Western Michigan (MAC)
▪ Youngstown State (Horizon League)
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
