One piece of UK basketball’s schedule is now in place for future seasons
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball will continue to participate in the annual CBS Sports Classic through 2029.
- The Wildcats will be joined in the event by Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio State.
- Next season’s CBS Sports Classic will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Another piece of the Kentucky basketball schedule is now in place for the near future.
The CBS Sports Classic announced Wednesday that the event has been extended through 2029, locking the Wildcats into the marquee nonconference showcase for the next four seasons.
The announcement came with a twist: Kansas is replacing UCLA in the four-team event. Going forward, the CBS Sports Classic will feature Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio State.
The CBS Sports Classic, which began in 2014, has its matchups set for its next four editions in 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029.
Next season, UK will face North Carolina in the event on Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
On Dec. 18, 2027, Kentucky will play Ohio State. On Dec. 16, 2028, UK and Kansas will face off in a matchup featuring the two winningest programs in college basketball history. The Dec. 15, 2029, edition of the CBS Sports Classic will see UK and UNC renew their rivalry.
Locations for the 2027, 2028 and 2029 editions of the CBS Sports Classic haven’t yet been announced. Since its creation, the CBS Sports Classic has been played in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New Orleans and New York City.
This season’s edition of the CBS Sports Classic also omitted UCLA, with the Bruins replaced by St. John’s to help facilitate a coaching matchup between the Wildcats’ Mark Pope and the Red Storm’s Rick Pitino to mark the 30th anniversary of UK’s 1995-96 NCAA title team, which featured Pope as a player and Pitino as the coach.
Kentucky secured a come-from-behind win in that game to improve to 6-6 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic.
With each of Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina now taking part in the event, the CBS Sports Classic will boast the three programs with the most wins in college basketball. Kentucky still leads all schools with 2,436 wins. Kansas is in second place with 2,429 victories. North Carolina is in third place all-time with 2,411 wins, 25 behind UK.
In addition to the future CBS Sports Classic matchups, Kentucky already knows several of its nonconference opponents for the coming seasons.
Kentucky is still locked into the Champions Classic. Next season’s event will be held on Nov. 10, 2026, in Chicago and will pit UK against Kansas. Duke and Michigan State are also part of that four-team event.
UK will continue its historic rivalry with Indiana for each of the next three seasons. Next season’s contest between the Wildcats and Hoosiers is scheduled for Dec. 27, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Pope’s program will also go up against Gonzaga in each of the next two seasons. Additional nonconference games that are expected to be on future schedules include the annual in-state rivalry tilt with Louisville and the ACC/SEC Challenge.
