UK basketball’s SEC schedule for 2024-25 season will include John Calipari’s return to Rupp
A key part of the schedule for Mark Pope’s first season as Kentucky basketball coach has been revealed.
On Monday afternoon, the SEC announced the conference opponents for each of the 16 teams in the league for the 2024-25 season, which will be the first with Oklahoma and Texas.
UK will play all 15 of its SEC opponents at least once next season, with home and away games scheduled against Alabama, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. This means an 18-game regular season conference schedule will be maintained.
This is the first time since the 2021-22 season that UK will face Alabama twice in the regular season. Last season, Alabama reached its first Final Four in school history and Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats was rumored to be a coaching candidate for the UK job that ultimately went to Pope.
Much of the interest with respect to Monday’s announcement was related to how many times Kentucky and Arkansas would play next season, a matchup that will pit new Razorbacks head coach John Calipari against the school he coached for 15 seasons and abruptly left this offseason.
The Wildcats and Hogs will play only once next season, and that game will be at Rupp Arena.
UK will have only home games next season against the following schools: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
UK will have only road games next season against the following schools: Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
With respect to the three home-and-away matchups Kentucky has against Alabama, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the Wildcats have historically dominated each of those series.
▪ UK leads the all-time series against Alabama 117-41.
▪ UK leads the all-time series versus Tennessee 161-78.
▪ UK leads the all-time series against Vanderbilt 157-49.
Game dates, times and TV designations haven’t yet been announced for these SEC games.
In addition to SEC play, Kentucky basketball also has several commitments in place for nonconference games for the 2024-25 season.
This includes facing Duke in the Champions Classic, former UK player Aaron Bradshaw and Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic, Gonzaga (in a neutral-site game played in Seattle) and Louisville in the annual rivalry contest. The Wildcats will host the Cardinals this season at Rupp Arena.
UK will also be playing an ACC program in the ACC/SEC Challenge, and a home game against Western Kentucky is also reportedly being finalized.
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