What to know about UK football’s future schedules with SEC foes set through 2029
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky faces Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina annually through 2029.
- UK plays SEC teams home and away over four years under new rotation system.
- Georgia and Vanderbilt drop off UK's annual schedule for first time in decades.
Kentucky football’s SEC foes for the next four seasons have been set.
In a schedule release show on the SEC Network Tuesday, the league confirmed Monday’s report that Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina would been UK’s three fixed opponents over the next four seasons. The Wildcats will play the other SEC teams twice in that period, home and away, over the next four years.
In 2026, Kentucky will host Florida, Alabama, LSU and Vanderbilt and will travel to South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. The Wildcats will play those same opponents in opposite venues in 2028.
In 2026, Kentucky will host South Carolina, Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia and Mississippi State and will travel to Florida, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas. The Wildcats will play those same opponents in opposite venues in 2029.
Dates for the games will be announced in the future.
Here’s what you need to know about the new schedule.
The wait goes on for Texas A&M’s first trip to Kroger Field
In a strange quirk of conference expansion, Texas will play UK in Lexington before Texas A&M even though the Aggies have been in the SEC since 2012 and the Longhorns only joined the league last season.
Texas A&M was originally scheduled to make its first trip to Lexington this year, but the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2024 ended the former schedule rotation and eliminated the two-division format. Texas will instead play at UK next month while Texas A&M will make its first trip to Lexington in 2028 under the new rotation. UK has played at Texas A&M in 1952 and 2018.
Some familiar foes will no longer be on the schedule every year
We already knew Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina would be Kentucky’s three fixed opponents for the next four years, but the absence of Georgia and Vanderbilt on UK’s annual schedule was still jarring. Kentucky has played Georgia every year since 1956. UK has played Vanderbilt every year since 1953. Kentucky will not play Georgia in 2026 or 2028. UK will not play Vanderbilt in 2027 or 2029.
The 1951 Sugar Bowl rematch is set
Kentucky played Texas in 2024 and 2025 after the league’s latest round of expansion, but it has yet to play Oklahoma as a conference foe. The two programs have played before, including arguably the biggest win in UK program history. Bear Bryant’s Wildcats beat No. 1 Oklahoma in the 1951 Sugar Bowl. The school later claimed a national championship for the 1950 season when Jeff Sagarin’s computer ranking retroactively slotted the Wildcats first due to the Sugar Bowl win. UK and Oklahoma also met in Norman in 1980 and Lexington in 1982. Oklahoma won both those games. The series resumes in Norman next season.