Kentucky’s SEC basketball schedule is set. It’s a tough draw for Mark Pope’s team
The Kentucky men’s basketball team has learned more about its schedule for the 2026-27 season. As expected, it’s shaping up as a difficult campaign for the Cats.
The SEC officially released the opponent list and home/away designations for all 16 programs in the league Thursday, and UK’s 18-game schedule will be filled with ranked foes.
Mark Pope’s team, which is No. 17 in the latest preseason Top 25 rankings from both ESPN and CBS Sports, will play two games each against Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt as part of the conference slate. UT and Vandy, which are UK’s “permanent” two-game opponents, are both widely viewed as preseason Top 25 teams, with ESPN placing the Volunteers at No. 6 nationally in its early rankings.
Ole Miss is not expected to be among the top teams in the SEC next season, but the trip to Oxford is still likely to be a difficult matchup against a top-100 opponent. Coach Chris Beard’s Rebels defeated UK 98-84 during Pope’s first season at Kentucky in one of the most lopsided games of his two-year tenure. Ole Miss led that one 54-31 at halftime.
UK’s SEC schedule will also feature a road trip to Gainesville, where the Cats will face the Florida Gators, who are ranked No. 1 on the ESPN and CBS Sports preseason Top 25 lists. Florida defeated Kentucky three times last season.
The only other SEC team ranked in the top 10 on both lists is Texas, and Kentucky will also face the Longhorns on the road during the 2026-27 season. Missouri, which is No. 21 in ESPN’s rankings, will be another road trip for Pope’s team.
In addition to the home-and-home series with Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the Cats will play Alabama and Arkansas in Rupp Arena. Each of those opponents is a consensus Top 25 team in the preseason rankings.
Kentucky is one of only five SEC teams that will have home-and-home series against two opponents that are ranked in both the ESPN and CBS Sports preseason Top 25s. The others are Missouri (playing Arkansas and Tennessee), Tennessee (playing UK and Vanderbilt), Texas A&M (playing Texas and Vanderbilt) and Vanderbilt (playing UK and Tennessee).
The Cats’ game against Arkansas will give Pope another shot to defeat former UK coach John Calipari in Lexington, which was the site of a Razorbacks’ upset in Calipari’s return to Rupp two seasons ago. (UK upset Calipari and the Hogs in Fayetteville last season.)
Pope is 0-4 against Alabama coach Nate Oats during his tenure at Kentucky, though only one of those games has been played in Lexington.
Counting the five nonconference matchups against high-major teams that have already been announced, the Cats now have 14 games on the 2026-27 schedule against teams that are included in either the ESPN or CBS Sports preseason rankings. Nine of those games will be played away from Rupp Arena.
Dates and times for the 18-game league slate were not announced Thursday, and those details will be released later this summer.
Kentucky’s league games in Rupp Arena will be played against Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
The Cats’ road trips in league play will include Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and Vanderbilt.
Pope has gone 10-8 in SEC play in each of his first two seasons at Kentucky, and he’s assembled a roster for Year 3 that features a mix of key returnees (such as Malachi Moreno and Kam Williams) alongside one of the top transfer classes in the country, a group that includes Milan Momcilovic and the backcourt tandem of Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins.
2026-27 Kentucky basketball schedule
With the official SEC opponent reveal Thursday, the Cats now know 30 of their 32 matchups for next season.
In addition to the league games, Kentucky will play Kansas (Nov. 10 in Chicago), Indiana (Nov. 20 in Indianapolis), Virginia (Dec. 2 in Charlottesville), Louisville (Dec. 12 in Rupp Arena) and North Carolina (Dec. 19 in New York) as part of the 14-game nonconference schedule.
UK also announced seven home games against nonconference foes last week: Manhattan (Nov. 3), James Madison (Nov. 6), Northern Arizona (Nov. 13), Grambling State (Nov. 16), Bryant (Dec. 8), Sacred Heart (Dec. 22) and Gardner-Webb (Dec. 28).
Kentucky has not yet finalized the final two games on its nonconference schedule or announced any of its exhibitions for the 2026-27 preseason.
NCAA rule changes that take effect this year will allow teams to play 32 regular season games and three exhibition games, an increase of one game in each category. All three of UK’s exhibitions are expected to take place in Rupp Arena.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 11:01 AM.
