The calendar says football season is 18 days away, but Kentucky basketball fans just got their own reason to start the countdown. With Monday’s announcement of the new BBN United Tipoff Classic, the Wildcats have finalized their 2025-26 schedule — and it’s loaded with marquee matchups, blue-blood showdowns, and a few potential trap games.
The year begins with back-to-back exhibition games at Rupp Arena: Purdue on October 24 and Georgetown on October 30. From there, things get real quickly.
Non-conference fireworks
Kentucky will open the regular season November 4 against Nicholls State in the inaugural BBN United Tipoff Classic, followed by Valparaiso on November 7 and Eastern Illinois on November 14. In between, a November 11 trip to Louisville will mark the season’s first true road test.
The Champions Classic returns to Madison Square Garden on November 18, where Kentucky will meet Michigan State. Other non-conference headliners include Gonzaga in Nashville (Dec. 5), North Carolina at Rupp (Dec. 2), and a December 13 clash with Indiana. The Wildcats will also meet St. John’s in Atlanta on December 20 for the CBS Sports Classic.
SEC grind
League play tips off with a trip to Alabama on January 3, and it’s a classic SEC gauntlet from there: home-and-homes with Tennessee and Vanderbilt, road trips to Arkansas, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, and Texas A&M, plus heavyweight home dates with Texas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Georgia, and Florida.
Why it matters
From the moment the ball tips in the Purdue exhibition, Kentucky will face a steady diet of top-25 competition and emotionally charged rivalries. The early non-conference slate offers national stage opportunities before the SEC wars begin, and the mix of neutral-site and road games should harden this group before March.
Here’s the full 2025-26 Kentucky men’s basketball schedule:
October
Oct. 24 — Purdue (Exh), Rupp Arena
Oct. 30 — Georgetown (Exh), Rupp Arena
November
Nov. 4 — Nicholls State, Rupp Arena (BBN United Tipoff Classic)
Nov. 7 — Valparaiso, Rupp Arena (BBN United Tipoff Classic)
Nov. 11 — at Louisville, KFC Yum! Center
Nov. 14 — Eastern Illinois, Rupp Arena (BBN United Tipoff Classic)
Nov. 18 — vs. Michigan State, Madison Square Garden (Champions Classic)
Nov. 21 — Loyola (Md.), Rupp Arena
Nov. 26 — Tennessee Tech, Rupp Arena
December
Dec. 2 — North Carolina, Rupp Arena (ACC/SEC Challenge)
Dec. 5 — Gonzaga, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
Dec. 9 — North Carolina Central, Rupp Arena
Dec. 13 — Indiana, Rupp Arena
Dec. 20 — St. John’s, State Farm Arena, Atlanta (CBS Sports Classic)
Dec. 23 — Bellarmine, Rupp Arena
January
Jan. 3 — at Alabama
Jan. 6/7 — Missouri, Rupp Arena
Jan. 10 — Mississippi State, Rupp Arena
Jan. 13/14 — at LSU
Jan. 17 — at Tennessee
Jan. 20/21 — Texas, Rupp Arena
Jan. 24 — Ole Miss, Rupp Arena
Jan. 27/28 — at Vanderbilt
Jan. 31 — at Arkansas
February
Feb. 3 — Oklahoma, Rupp Arena
Feb. 7 — Tennessee, Rupp Arena
Feb. 14 — at Florida
Feb. 17/18 — Georgia, Rupp Arena
Feb. 21 — at Auburn
Feb. 24/25 — at South Carolina
Feb. 28 — Vanderbilt, Rupp Arena
March
Mar. 3/4 — at Texas A&M
Mar. 7 — Florida, Rupp Arena
Between Purdue in October and Florida in March, Kentucky’s schedule offers a little bit of everything — rivalry heat, national spotlight games, and enough road tests to see exactly where this team stands when the stakes are highest.
What matchup are you looking forward to the most?