Five takeaways from Kentucky basketball's schedule release

The Kentucky men’s basketball schedule had been finalized to the extent of opponents and dates with a couple of tip times and TV designations sprinkled in, specifically in the non-conference. Those other blanks were filled on Thursday when the SEC released the remaining details for all 144 games.

Well, most of them anyway. Enough to finalize your plans to watch the Cats in person or in front of your televisions starting now through the end of the regular season in March.

What were the big takeaways? KSR’s got you covered.

Building the suspense for Coach Cal’s return to Rupp Arena

February 1 is going to be a day we all remember for a very, very long time. It’s the highly anticipated return of John Calipari following his move to Arkansas, sitting on the opposing bench after claiming the home throne in Lexington for 15 years. If you have a pulse and enjoy basketball, you’ll be watching.

When? The SEC is making that part interesting for us, scheduling the tip-off time for 9 PM ET on ESPN. Fans will have to impatiently wait all day and night for the prime time event, one certain to break every viewership record imaginable. No nerves for anyone involved, right?

You can just about guarantee College GameDay will be there with ESPN pulling out all the stops and special guests for that one. There won’t be a bigger matchup with more on the line all season.

Five games streamed on SEC Network+

As we’ve come to expect every year, a number of early-season non-conference matchups will not be televised. Instead, they’ll be streamed live on SEC Network+ — five in total with two being exhibition matchups.

If you figured out how to watch Kentucky’s Pro Day event on Monday, you should be fine. If not, you’ll get two early chances to work through your technical difficulties. Both exhibition matchups vs. Kentucky Wesleyan on Oct. 23 at 7 PM and Minnesota St. Mankato on Oct. 29 at 7 PM will be streamed live on SECN+. The opener vs. Wright State will be televised on ESPNU, but the second regulation game vs. Bucknell on Nov. 9 at 4 PM will be on SECN+.

After a quick break for the Champions Classic in Atlanta vs. Duke — Nov. 12 at 9 PM on ESPN, FWIW — we’ll get back-to-back SECN+ games vs. Lipscomb on Nov. 19 at 7 PM and Jackson State on Nov. 22 at 7 PM.

You’ll be able to put your computers away after that.

Only one new midweek 9 PM tip (but maybe two)

There is nothing worse than late tips for midweek games during SEC play, waiting around all day for basketball, only to have some mediocre matchup on ESPN or SEC Network holding you up another couple of hours. And don’t even get me started on the league’s inability to stagger 7 PM and 9 PM tip-offs — the next game that ends in two hours will be the first. No disrespect to ESPNews, but I never want to be forced to watch that channel again.

Fortunately for Big Blue Nation, those opportunities will be extremely limited this go-round.

We already knew about the 9 PM and 9:30 PM ET tips for Duke and Clemson, respectively — no getting around those — but the rest of the SEC schedule revealed just one guaranteed midweek late tip for the Cats. That will come on Wednesday, February 26 when Kentucky tips off at Oklahoma at 9 PM ET on SEC Network.

Elsewhere, Senior Day vs. LSU on March 4 is still up in the air, that one tipping off at either 7 or 9 PM ET on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Fingers crossed for 7 on ESPN.

11 AM against Florida in the SEC opener

Mark Pope’s very first SEC game as the head coach at Kentucky will take place in the morning.

What?

That’s right, the league opener against Florida has been scheduled for January 4 at 11 AM ET on ESPN — a nice little brunch and basketball Saturday combo to get 2025 rolling. Why? Well, I’m not really sure. The NFL Playoffs don’t start until Jan. 11 and the only other bowl on Jan. 4 is the Bahamas Bowl, which also starts at 11 AM ET. Guess the SEC overlords just want to see Rupp Arena rocking with a mimosa in hand.

There are a couple other matinees on the schedule, namely the 12 PM ET tip vs. Alabama on Jan. 18, followed by Vanderbilt in Nashville a week later on Jan. 25 at 2:30 PM ET. We’ve got another nooner vs. South Carolina on Feb. 8, plus an 11 AM local time tip at Missouri (12 PM ET) to close out the regular season on March 8.

Rise and shine, folks.

Gonzaga is still TBA

The schedule is almost complete. We have two SEC games with tip times and TV designations to be finalized soon — Auburn on March 1 at 1 or 4 PM ET on ABC or ESPN and LSU on March 4 at 7 or 9 PM ET on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU — plus one non-conference matchup with no official details yet beyond the date of the game.

Kentucky will take on Gonzaga in the Battle in Seattle on Saturday, December 7, but that’s all we know as of today. The host venue, Climate Pledge Arena, lists the event start time as 7 PM ET, as does Ticketmaster, for what it’s worth. It’s listed as TBA on the latest release.

Last year’s matchup tipped off inside Rupp Arena at 4 PM ET on CBS while the game in Spokane the year before tipped off at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN, so clues there, unfortunately.

We’ve got most of the scheduling details, but not quite all.