Date is set for Kentucky-Louisville basketball game. Here’s when they’ll play
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky and Louisville will meet at Rupp Arena on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026.
- Louisville has the nation’s No. 1-ranked transfer class, per 247Sports.
- Kentucky’s nonconference slate includes Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina and Louisville.
A year after the earliest edition of Kentucky-Louisville men’s basketball game in the history of the series, the rivalry will return to a more familiar place on the schedule in 2026.
The Cats and the Cards will meet in Rupp Arena on Saturday, Dec. 12, the Herald-Leader has learned. The tip time and TV information have not yet been finalized, but the game will be shown on one of ESPN’s channels.
As of now, the matchup with Louisville is also the only marquee home game on Kentucky’s 2026-27 nonconference schedule. The Cats will also play Kansas in Chicago on Nov. 10, Indiana in Indianapolis on Nov. 20 and North Carolina in New York City on Dec. 19.
UK will also be part of the 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge, and its opponent for the fourth edition of that series is likely to be announced next month. While dates and home sites have not been finalized for this year’s version of the interconference series, the Cats are expected to go on the road after hosting UNC in Rupp Arena last season.
Kentucky was scheduled to play Gonzaga in Rupp during the 2026-27 season, but officials from the two schools agreed last week to end the series with two games remaining on the original deal.
Last year’s UK-Louisville game was played on Nov. 11 in the Yum Center, the earliest edition of the rivalry and just the third time the Cats and Cards had met in the month of November. U of L defeated Kentucky 96-88 in last season’s game. UK leads the all-time series 40-18.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope will be looking to avoid the wrong kind of history this season. The Cats have not lost consecutive games to Louisville since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, when former UK coach Billy Gillispie was defeated in his only two games in the series.
Pope beat Louisville 93-85 in Rupp Arena in his first season as Kentucky’s head coach. That was also coach Pat Kelsey’s first season in charge of the Cards, who should once again pose a major threat to the Cats this year.
Louisville has the nation’s No. 1-ranked transfer class, according to 247Sports. That group of newcomers is headlined by former Kansas center Flory Bidunga, whom 247Sports ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the portal this spring. Bidunga announced Monday that he would withdraw from the 2026 NBA draft.
U of L’s roster will also feature highly touted transfers Jackson Shelstad (Oregon), Karter Knox (Arkansas) and Alvaro Folgueiras (Iowa), as well as returning guard Adrian Wooley and five-star recruit Obinna Ekezie.
CBS Sports has Louisville at No. 14 in its most recent preseason Top 25 rankings.
Kentucky is not on that Top 25 list, despite the recent return of starting center Malachi Moreno, who announced Sunday night that he would pull out of the 2026 NBA draft to play another season in Lexington.
Pope’s roster will also feature highly touted transfer guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins, as well as returning wings Kam Williams, Trent Noah and Braydon Hawthorne, plus high-upside international forward Ousmane N’Diaye, among others.
Kentucky and Louisville have both been linked to former Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic, who was the top 3-point shooter in college basketball last season. If Momcilovic commits to the Cats, it would likely propel Pope’s team into top-15 territory in the 2026-27 preseason rankings.
UK’s full schedule for the upcoming season will be released later this year.
