We now know which SEC teams Kentucky will play during 2025-26 basketball season
Another major piece to Kentucky’s 2025-26 men’s basketball schedule has been revealed.
On Wednesday, the SEC announced the matchups for the Wildcats’ 18-game league slate, which will include nine games in Rupp Arena and nine on the road in Mark Pope’s second season in charge of the UK program.
This will also be the second season with an expanded, 16-team SEC — Oklahoma and Texas were newcomers to the league last year — and that means Kentucky will play only three opponents twice, with just one game each against the rest of the conference.
UK’s home-and-home opponents on the 2025-26 schedule will be Tennessee and Vanderbilt — the Cats’ designated traditional rivals — along with Florida, the reigning NCAA champions and preseason favorites to win the league in 2026.
The other 12 teams will appear only once on Kentucky’s schedule.
While the dates for these SEC games have not yet been determined, a spokesman from the league office did tell the Herald-Leader that conference play will begin on Saturday, Jan. 3, with the final date of the regular season set for Saturday, March 7.
That calendar will give each SEC team the opportunity for one “open date” once the league schedule begins, and programs can use that as either a week off from competition or for a window to schedule a nonconference opponent later in the season.
Kentucky does not have any late-season, nonconference games on its current 2025-26 schedule, and the Wildcats used their open date to take a week off from competition this past season. UK played Gonzaga during its open date in the 2023-24 season.
The wait will continue for exact SEC dates for next season — that information was not released until Aug. 20 last year — but the league’s announcement did include home and away designations for the 2025-26 season.
Kentucky will play the following teams in Rupp Arena next season: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats will play these SEC teams on the road: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
This will mark UK’s first trip to Fayetteville since John Calipari left Lexington to become head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks last spring. UK played Arkansas only once during the 2024-25 season — a loss to Calipari and the Hogs in Rupp Arena.
The 2026 SEC Tournament will be played in Nashville on March 11-15.
SEC basketball outlook
The SEC put a record 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament this past season, with every league member other than LSU and South Carolina making the March Madness field.
Florida won the 2025 national championship, with regular-season SEC champion Auburn advancing to the Final Four, Alabama and Tennessee making the Elite Eight and three teams — Arkansas, Kentucky and Ole Miss — going to the Sweet 16.
While the league might not be quite that difficult next season, it could still be the toughest conference in college basketball.
The latest preseason Top 25 rankings from ESPN have six SEC teams in the rankings, with Florida leading the way at No. 2 nationally, followed by No. 9 Kentucky, No. 11 Arkansas, No. 14 Auburn, No. 17 Alabama and No. 23 Tennessee.
The preseason CBS Sports college basketball rankings also have Texas listed at No. 23 nationally. That Top 25 rundown ranks Kentucky at No. 12 in the country.
The Wildcats were 10-8 in the league this past season, finishing in a tie for sixth in the SEC standings and losing to Alabama in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. UK was defeated by conference rival Tennessee in the Sweet 16 and ended up with a 24-12 overall record.
Kentucky’s 2025-26 basketball schedule
According to the KenPom ratings, Kentucky had the No. 3 toughest schedule in college basketball last season — behind only SEC rivals Alabama and Auburn — and the 2025-26 slate is shaping up to be similarly difficult.
In addition to the loaded league schedule, the Wildcats have already set nonconference games against Louisville (Nov. 11 in the Yum Center), Michigan State (Nov. 18 in Madison Square Garden), North Carolina (Dec. 2 in Rupp Arena) Gonzaga (Dec. 5 in Nashville), Indiana (Dec. 13 in Rupp Arena) and St. John’s (Dec. 20 in Atlanta).
The early CBS Sports rankings have Rick Pitino’s St. John’s team at No. 1 nationally, and Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga and North Carolina are in the early Top 25 rankings, too.
UK will also play an exhibition game against Purdue in Rupp Arena on Oct. 24. The Boilermakers are ranked No. 1 on ESPN’s preseason list.
