Immediate reactions to Kentucky's SEC basketball opponents in 2026

The Southeastern Conference revealed its league matchups for the upcoming college basketball season, announcing every home and road opponent for each SEC basketball program without dates. The dates and TV assignments will come later, likely in early August.

Here at KSR, we care only about Kentucky and its 18-game schedule, which again will include three home-and-home series, six one-way road trips, and six other home games in Rupp Arena:

Kentucky Basketball’s 2025-26 SEC opponents

• Home/Away: Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
• Home: Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas
• Away: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M

Now that we know the matchups, how about some instant reactions?

A difficult road schedule

Kentucky’s away opponents immediately stood out from the schedule reveal. The first three road games listed are Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn–three challenging trips to make against high-profile coaches and programs. Throw in the games in Gainesville and Knoxville, and Kentucky has a brutal slate outside of Rupp Arena without a chance to play Alabama, Arkansas, or Auburn back in Lexington.

Back to playing Florida twice, per tradition

Last season, Kentucky and eventual national champion Florida played only once in the regular season, ending a decades-long streak of their annual home-and-home series. (Kentucky won the one meeting, by the way.) Before the 2025 season, you’ll have to go all the way back to 1968 to find a year that Kentucky and Florida didn’t play twice.

Next season, the rivalry returns to form with two regular-season meetings after the SEC named Florida one of Kentucky’s three home-and-home basketball opponents for 2026, along with two other longtime foes in Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Travis Perry homecoming

Travis Perry‘s Kentucky homecoming game will come in his first season as an Ole Miss Rebel. Ole Miss heads to Lexington in 2026, bringing Kentucky high school basketball’s all-time leading scorer to Rupp Arena in the opposing backcourt. A high school state champion and former Mr. Kentucky Basketball, Perry will have to dress in Rupp’s visiting locker room as a sophomore.

The Ole Miss game also provides an opportunity at redemption for Kentucky’s brutal loss in Oxford last season, Kentucky’s worst performance of the entire year.

Must defend homecourt

The road will be hard, but the home slate is very manageable. In fact, Kentucky needs to win all of its home games, or at worst, go 8-1 in Lexington in the SEC. Defending champ Florida will likely be the toughest test of the bunch (Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas), but Kentucky beat Florida’s title team last season, so the expectation will be to do it again.

The Wildcats certainly can’t slip up in the other games in that home draw and still expect to contend for the SEC crown.

My way-too-early prediction: Kentucky goes 14-4, with all four losses coming on the road.

Kentucky Basketball's 2025-26 SEC Opponents have been revealed.

The Cats will play Florida, Tennessee, and Vandy twice. Only road trips for Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn. https://t.co/y0uLXqFs83 pic.twitter.com/BHoj96gvAn

— KSR (@KSRonX) June 18, 2025

Kentucky’s 2025-26 schedule (as we know it)

• Oct. 24 (Fri.): vs. Purdue | Rupp Arena (Exhibition)
• Oct. 30 (Thu.): vs. Georgetown | Rupp Arena (Exhibition)
• Nov. 11 (Tue.): vs. Louisville | Yum Center (Louisville, KY)
• Nov. 18 (Tue.): vs. Michigan State | Champions Classic | Madison Square Garden (New York, NY)
• Nov. 21 (Fri.): vs. Loyola University Maryland | Rupp Arena
• Nov. 26 (Wed.): vs. Tennessee Tech | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 2 (Tue.): North Carolina | SEC/ACC Challenge | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 5 (Fri.): vs. Gonzaga | Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)
• Dec. 9 (Tue.): vs. NC Central | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 13 (Sat.): vs. Indiana | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 20 (Sat.): vs. St. John’s | CBS Sports Classic | State Farm Arena (Atlanta, GA)
• Dec. 23 (Tue.): vs. Bellarmine | Rupp Arena
• TBA: at Alabama | Coleman Coliseum (Tuscaloosa, AL)
• TBA: at Arkansas | Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, AR)
• TBA: at Auburn | Neville Arena (Auburn, AL)
• TBA: at Florida | Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center (Gainesville, FL)
• TBA: at LSU | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, LA)
• TBA: at South Carolina | Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, SC)
• TBA: at Tennessee | Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center (Knoxville, TN)
• TBA: at Texas A&M | Reed Arena (College Station, TX)
• TBA: at Vanderbilt | Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville TN)
• TBA: vs. Florida | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Georgia | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Ole Miss | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Mississippi State | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Missouri | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Oklahoma | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Tennessee | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Texas | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Vanderbilt | Rupp Arena

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