Kentucky men's basketball's 2023-24 non-conference schedule is no cakewalk

The Kentucky men’s basketball program (finally) announced the non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season. It’s a unique slate of games for the Wildcats, including the usual cupcakes but with plenty of mid- and high-level talent spread throughout. There are multiple neutral site games against the likes of Kansas and North Carolina, a “road” showdown against Penn in Philadelphia, and an unusually long break from home games that spans 27 days during the month of December.

Miami (FL), expected to be among the preseason Top 25, is also part of the lineup, as is traditional in-state rival Louisville. There’s also an Antonio Reeves “revenge” game against his former team, Illinois State. Gonzaga is coming to Rupp Arena for the first time ever, too. It’s a well-balanced schedule — not even Ryan Lemond could find reasons to nitpick it.

Most importantly, the first half of the season will present this young Kentucky group with plenty of challenges. There will be growing pains with so many freshmen expected to take on high-usage roles. Reeves is the only returning player from the 2022-23 season that averaged more than 10 minutes per game. Minor injuries to five-star freshman Aaron Bradshaw and sophomore Ugonna Onyenso will have head coach John Calipari piecing together rotations on a game-by-game basis early in the season. He’ll need them both ready to roll by SEC play, but there will be ways to fill the gaps before then.

So what should the Big Blue Nation expect out of Kentucky’s first 13 games of the season? Let’s break it down into groups: hard (4 games), medium (4 games), and easy (5 games). We’ll start with the easy ones.

“Easy” difficulty

Nov. 6 vs. New Mexico State

• The first regular season matchup of the season should be little issue for the ‘Cats. New Mexico State finished ’22-23 with a final record of 9-15 (2-10 C-USA) but the bad news didn’t stop there. Hazing allegations in February directed toward then-head coach Greg Heiar put the program in a poor spot. He was removed from his position and replaced by Jason Wooten, who had been the head coach at Sam Houston State since 2010. More notably, New Mexico State returns zero players from last season’s roster. This is the definition of a rebuilding year for the Aggies.

Nov. 10 vs. Texas A&M-Commerce

• Texas A&M-Commerce was one of the worst teams in all of Division I basketball in 2022-23 — their first season in DI since after making the jump from DII last summer. The program actually has quite a rich tradition of history, dating back to a stretch in the 1950s that saw the Lions dominant at the NAIA level. Jaret Von Rosenberg has been the head coach since 2017 and has an overall record of 88-46. But in year one against DI opponents, the leap in competition was far too tough to overcome.

Nov. 17 vs. Stonehill

• Like Texas A&M-Commerce, Stonehill is another team coming off a rough first season as a member of Division I men’s basketball. The program was a regular at the DII NCAA Tournament over the last two decades but went just 14-17 as part of the Northeast Conference in 2022-23. It’ll likely still be too soon for a breakout season from the Skyhawks.

Dec. 2 vs. UNC Wilmington

• UNC Wilmington is a game that could possibly be slotted into the “medium” difficulty category. Heading into year four as head coach, Takayo Siddle is no slouch on the sidelines. The Seahawks won 27 games two years ago then 24 last season. They return a good chunk of last season’s production, but that being said, they still shouldn’t be much of a match for the Wildcats at Rupp Arena.

Dec. 29 vs. Illinois State

• Even when Antonio Reeves was on the roster, Illinois State was never a consistent threat in the Missouri Valley Conference. That should be the case again in ’23-24. The Redbirds were one of the worst teams in basketball a season ago and lost seven pieces to graduation or the portal. They recouped some of that lost production by adding a handful of transfers, but it’s likely that Illinois State is once again near the bottom of the totem pole in the MVC.

“Medium” difficulty

Nov. 20 vs. St. Joseph’s

• This will be just the third time in history that Kentucky takes on St. Joseph’s and the first since the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The Hawks return 10 letter-winners from last season’s team — most notably Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection Erik Reynolds II — that finished 16-17 with no postseason appearance. St. Joe’s was below-average last season, but returns enough production to make them a formidable early-season matchup.

Nov. 24 vs. Marshall

• Led by Dan D’Antoni, brother of longtime NBA head coach Mike D’Antoni, Marshall is coming off a respectable season in ’22-23 with a 24-8 final record. The Thundering Herd finished top 100 in KenPom but lost plenty of talent in the offseason, including All-Sun Belt performer Andrew Taylor to Mississippi State. That being said, there is enough returning production that will make Marshall a semi-tough matchup early in the schedule. Don’t sleep on the Thundering Herd when they come to Lexington the day after Thanksgiving.

Dec. 9 vs. Penn

• Like Marshall, Penn lost its top player from last season to the portal. Jordan Dingle was the Ivy League Player of the Year last season before transferring to play for Rick Pitino at St. John’s. This is technically a neutral matchup between the two schools at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, although it’s just a 10-minute drive away from Penn’s campus. Marshall should be a tougher challenge than Penn, but the Quakers will have the homecourt advantage.

Dec. 21 @ Louisville

• Should I have slotted this one in the “easy” difficulty category? Possibly, but the history between these two programs is too much to ignore. Plus, there’s no way Louisville can be as bad as last season’s four-win debacle (…right?). Losing four-star freshman Trentyn Flowers to the NBL in Australia is tough but there is no denying that this season’s roster will have more pure talent than last. Kenny Payne almost has to make this game somewhat competitive — I expect it will be.

“Hard” difficulty

Nov. 14 vs. Kansas

• Now for the fun stuff. All four of Kentucky’s “hard” opponents will begin the season ranked among the top 25. None will be tougher than Kansas though, which will likely start out as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. Although the Jayhawks lost plenty of pieces in the offseason, Bill Self might have made his squad looking even better in 2023-24. Hunter Dickinson (portal), Kevin McCullar Jr. (NBA Draft withdrawal), Nick Timberlake (portal) Dajuan Harris Jr. (returner), and KJ Adams Jr. (returner) will form one of the best starting groups in all of college basketball. This game being played at the United Center in Chicago only makes it tougher. Without a doubt, this will be Kentucky’s toughest non-conference game — and possibly the toughest of the regular season.

Nov. 28 vs. Miami (FL)

• After a surprising Final Four run in ’22-23, Miami lost its star player, Isaiah Wong, to the NBA, but head coach Jim Larranaga will have plenty of talent to work with. The Hurricanes will start the season among the Top 25 led by returning players Nigel Pack, Norchad Omier, and Wooga Poplar, plus impressive transfer Matthew Cleveland. This game will take in Rupp Arena, adding to Kentucky’s chances of coming out with a victory, but it certainly won’t be easy.

Dec. 16 vs. North Carolina

• North Carolina and head coach Hubert Davis failed to live up to last season’s lofty expectations as the preseason No. 1, but the Tarheels will be back for revenge in ’23-24 with a deep roster. For starters, RJ Davis and Armando Bacot are back in Chapel Hill for another season. Davis also added a couple of top transfers from Stanford and Notre Dame, along with five-star point guard Elliot Cadeau. North Carolina was still a solid team by the end of last season — expect them to start off this year with the same juice as a preseason top-25 group.

Feb. 10 vs. Gonzaga

• The game every Kentucky fan will be looking forward to is a showdown at Rupp Arena against Gonzaga. The timing of this game is different than the rest, as it is set for February during the middle of the Wildcats’ SEC schedule. Drew Timme is finally gone, as are a few of last season’s top impact players, but head coach Mark Few rounded out the roster in the offseason with plenty of talent. Ryan Nembhard (Creighton), Graham Ike (Wyoming), and Steele Venters (Eastern Washington) will all play significant roles from day one for the Bulldogs, which return two steady presences in Nolan Hickman and Anton Watson.