UK Announces Tipoff Times & TV Designations for Men's Basketball

2025-26 UK Men's Basketball Schedule (Printable).pdf

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – The entirety of the 2025-26 Kentucky men’s basketball schedule has been finalized with the Southeastern Conference’s announcement of dates, tip times and television designations for all league schedules.

The Wildcats are slated to play 21 regular-season games against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. UK will play seven of last year’s Sweet 16 squads and five Elite Eight teams, including two matchups against the defending National Champion Florida Gators.

The complete schedule is below. All times listed are Eastern: 

Date	Opponent/Event	Location	TV Network	Tip Time
Oct. 11	Big Blue Madness	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	6 p.m.
Oct. 17	Blue-White	Historic Memorial Coliseum	SECN+	7 p.m.
Oct. 24	Purdue (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SEC Network	6 p.m.
Oct. 30	Georgetown (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	7 p.m.
Nov. 4	Nicholls (BBN United Tipoff Classic)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	7 p.m.
Nov. 7	Valparaiso (BBN United Tipoff Classic)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	7 p.m.
Nov. 11	at Louisville	KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, Ky.)	ESPN	8 p.m.
Nov. 14	Eastern Illinois (BBN United Tipoff Classic)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	7 p.m.
Nov. 18	vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic)	Madison Square Garden (New York)	ESPN	6:30 p.m.
Nov. 21	Loyola (Md.)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	7 p.m.
Nov. 26	Tennessee Tech	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SEC Network	7 p.m.
Dec. 2	North Carolina (ACC/SEC Challenge)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN	9:30 p.m.
Dec. 5	vs. Gonzaga	Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tenn.)	ESPN2	7 p.m.
Dec. 9	North Carolina Central	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SEC Network	7 p.m.
Dec. 13	Indiana	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN	7:30 p.m.
Dec. 20	vs. St. John’s (CBS Sports Classic)	State Farm Arena (Atlanta)	CBS	12:30 p.m.
Dec. 23	Bellarmine	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SECN+	1 p.m.
Jan. 3	at Alabama (SEC)	Coleman Coliseum (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)	ESPN	1 p.m.
Jan. 7	Missouri (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN2	7 p.m.
Jan. 10	Mississippi State (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SEC Network	8:30 p.m.
Jan. 14	at LSU (SEC)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, La.)	SEC Network	7 p.m.
Jan. 17	at Tennessee (SEC)	Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center (Knoxville, Tenn.)	ESPN	Noon
Jan. 21	Texas (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	SEC Network	7 p.m.
Jan. 24	Ole Miss (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN/ESPN2	Noon
Jan. 27	at Vanderbilt (SEC)	Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville, Tenn.)	ESPN	9 p.m.
Jan. 31	at Arkansas (SEC)	Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)	ESPN	6:30 p.m.
Feb. 4	Oklahoma (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN2	7 p.m.
Feb. 7	Tennessee (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN	8:30 p.m.
Feb. 14	at Florida (SEC)	Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center (Gainesville, Fla.)	ABC	3 p.m.
Feb. 17	Georgia (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU	9 p.m.
Feb. 21	at Auburn (SEC)	Neville Arena (Auburn, Ala.)	ESPN/ESPN2	8:30 p.m.
Feb. 24	at South Carolina (SEC)	Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, S.C.)	SEC Network	7 p.m.
Feb. 28	Vanderbilt (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN/ESPN2	2 p.m.
March 3	at Texas A&M (SEC)	Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)	ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU	7 p.m.
March 7	Florida (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center	ESPN/ESPN2	4 p.m.

Details on regular-season home games for men’s basketball will be announced soon, including the launch of Kentucky’s official resale marketplace powered by Ticketmaster. This platform will offer fans a secure way to buy and sell verified tickets, even for games that may be sold out.

Season ticket holders are reminded that exhibition games vs. Purdue and Georgetown are included in their season ticket packages.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats are coming off the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2019 and return Collin Chandler, Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah and Otega Oweh who all contributed to a 24-12 season which featured wins over an NCAA-record-tying eight Associated Press Top 15 foes. 

Jaland Lowe smiles with reporters during UK's annual Media Day festivities held on Monday. (Photo by Jamie H. Vaught)

Adding to UK’s firepower in 2025-26 is one of the highest-ranked transfer classes in the country. The Cats will add 2025 National Champion Denzel Aberdeen from Florida; a two-time NCAA Sweet 16 participant in Alabama’s Mouhamed Dioubate; an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer in Pitt’s Jaland Lowe; Reece Potter from Miami of Ohio who is a Lexington native; National Defensive Player of the Year late-season finalist Jayden Quaintance from Arizona State; and Kam Williams from Tulane who earned American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team honors.

The Cats also have four collegiate newcomers in Braydon Hawthorne, Andrija Jelavić, Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno.