Date set for Kentucky vs. Louisville in 2025-26 Battle of the Bluegrass
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky will face Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, Nov. 22.
- Coach Kenny Brooks seeks a fifth straight win over Jeff Walz in rivalry play.
- UK's full 2025-26 slate includes matchups with Maryland, Miami and LSU.
Kentucky women’s basketball on Tuesday afternoon announced the date for its annual rivalry matchup with Louisville. This year, the Battle of the Bluegrass will take place Saturday, Nov. 22, at the KFC Yum Center.
It’s the second of three high-profile Wildcat-Cardinal showdowns in the month, with the men’s basketball teams playing Nov. 11 at the Yum Center and football’s Governor’s Cup game set for Nov. 29 at L&N Credit Union Stadium in Louisville.
Kenny Brooks, longtime challenger of Louisville boss Jeff Walz, earned his fourth consecutive victory over the Cardinals — dating back to his time at Virginia Tech — and snapped the Wildcats’ seven-game losing streak in the rivalry last year with a 71-61 overtime upset at Memorial Coliseum.
The thriller marked the first sellout of the Kenny Brooks era, the first ranked win of the season and Kentucky’s first ranked victory since the 2022 SEC Tournament championship, during which the Wildcats capped a magical run with a narrow defeat of No. 1 and eventual 2022 NCAA national champion South Carolina.
Kentucky’s nonconference slate will also include games against Buffalo, Maryland, Miami (Fla.) and Belmont. The program announced that it still expects to add one additional game before its 2025-26 schedule is complete.
In Brooks’ first season in Lexington, the Wildcats amassed an overall record of 23-8 (11-5 SEC), achieving a fourth-place finish in the Southeastern Conference and a top-16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Returning starters Clara Strack, Teonni Key and Amelia Hassett, plus veteran leaders Dazia Lawrence and Georgia Amoore, All-America point guard and first-round selection in the 2025 WNBA Draft, helped UK return to the national stage and build the foundation for Brooks’ tenure.
2025-26 UK women’s basketball schedule
Games confirmed to this point (home games in all capital letters):
Nov. 3: MOREHEAD STATE
Nov. 6: MONMOUTH
Nov. 9: At Buffalo
Nov. 12: USC UPSTATE
Nov. 18: PURDUE
Nov. 22: At Louisville
Nov. 26: Maryland-1
Nov. 28: Morgan State-1
Dec. 3: At Miami (Fla.)-2
Dec. 7: CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Dec. 14: At Belmont
Dec. 19: WRIGHT STATE
Dec. 28: HOFSTRA
Jan. 1: At LSU
Jan. 4: MISSOURI
Jan. 8: At Alabama
Jan. 11: OKLAHOMA
Jan. 15: FLORIDA
Jan. 18: At Mississippi State
Jan. 22: At Tennessee
Jan. 25: GEORGIA
Feb. 1: At Arkansas
Feb. 5: VANDERBILT
Feb. 9: At Texas
Feb. 12: TEXAS A&M
Feb. 15: OLE MISS
Feb. 22: At Vanderbilt
Feb. 26: At Auburn
March 1: SOUTH CAROLINA
March 4-8: SEC TOURNAMENT-3
1-Discover Puerto Rico Shootout at San Juan; 2-ACC/SEC Challenge; 3-At Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM.
