Breaking down UK's SEC basketball schedule: Key dates, toughest stretch, and more

On Tuesday, the Southeastern Conference announced the dates for Kentucky‘s conference games on the 2024-25 basketball schedule. While the opponents and locations were already known, the SEC has now paired the games with specific dates on the calendar, with times and other details still to come.

Kentucky’s 2024-25 SEC games

• Jan. 4 vs. Florida
• Jan. 7 @ Georgia
• Jan. 11 @ Mississippi State
• Jan. 14/15 vs. Texas A&M
• Jan. 18 vs. Alabama
• Jan. 25 @ Vanderbilt
• Jan. 28 @ Tennessee
• Feb. 1 vs. Arkansas
• Feb. 4/5 @ Ole Miss
• Feb. 8 vs. South Carolina
• Feb. 11/12 vs. Tennessee
• Feb. 15 @ Texas
• Feb. 18/19 vs. Vanderbilt
• Feb. 22 @ Alabama
• Feb. 25/26 @ Oklahoma
• March 1 vs. Auburn
• March 4/5 vs. LSU
• March 8 @ Missouri

Now that we know the dates, let’s review them with takeaways from the new schedule drop:

Midweek games aren’t finalized

As you can see, six of Kentucky’s 18 conference games have two dates beside them. Those games will not be played over two days but will be slotted into place later in the season, likely due to their TV draws. They could land on Tuesday or Wednesday, which will be determined some other time.

Those games are Texas A&M, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and LSU at home, as well as the road trips to Ole Miss and Oklahoma. It’s the SEC’s first flex approach to its basketball schedule.

John Calipari’s return to Lexington headlines the SEC slate

John Calipari‘s highly-anticipated return to Rupp Arena, home of the greatest tradition in college basketball, will take place on Saturday, February 1. It’s the ideal spot on the sports calendar because it falls on the off-Saturday between the NFL’s championship weekend and Super Bowl Sunday, and after college football crowns its national champion in late January.

Without football, Kentucky versus Arkansas will be the biggest show in sports, presumably in a primetime TV slot on Saturday evening.

Calipari’s return surrounded by two challenging road trips

The toughest stretch on the schedule includes the Arkansas game in Lexington on February 1, sandwiched between midweek road trips to Tennessee (January 28) and Ole Miss (February 4/5). Those are three of the most demanding games on the schedule played in a span of eight, maybe nine days.

Three away games in a week and a half

Later in February, the Wildcats will make three road trips–Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma–in an 11 or 12-day span after hosting Tennessee in Rupp. Kentucky will make debut flights to Austin, Texas, and Norman, Oklahoma, less than two weeks apart.

Nashville on a Saturday night

Kentucky heads to Vanderbilt on Saturday, January 25, which will only encourage more UK fans to take over Nashville for a doubleheader of the game and a night out on Broadway.

See you at Robert’s Western World.

Another opener against Florida in January

Kentucky will open against Florida for a second straight year, although this season’s game is in Lexington, not Gainesville. Still, playing the Gators so early in SEC competition is unique. Since 2010, Kentucky and Florida played only four games in January, two of which were last season. Traditionally, Kentucky and Florida meet in the regular season finale or close to it in late February or early March.

Only one game against the Gators for the first time since ’68

If playing Florida in January feels weird, how about the upcoming season being the first one in over 50 years without two Kentucky-Florida games?

According to my counting and Big Blue History’s series results, Kentucky and Florida played twice every year from 1969 to 2024. The 2025 schedule has them only meeting once, the season opener on January 4.

LSU (and seniors) on Senior Night

Replacing Florida as a regular Senior Day opponent, LSU is the final home game on the regular season schedule. Kentucky will say goodbye to more than half of the roster on Senior Night this year, which is also new. However, due to the new flex schedule for midweek games, we still don’t know if the home finale will be on Tuesday or Wednesday night in that first week of March.

See Kentucky’s entire 2024-25 schedule below, courtesy of UK.

Kentucky MBB 2024-25 schedule

Date	Opponent/Event	Location
Oct. 11	Big Blue Madness	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Oct. 18	Blue-White Preseason Event	Historic Memorial Coliseum
Oct. 23	Kentucky Wesleyan (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Oct. 29	Minnesota State Mankato (exhibition)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 4	Wright State	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 9	Bucknell	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 12	vs. Duke (Champions Classic)	Atlanta | State Farm Arena
Nov. 19	Lipscomb (BBN Invitational)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 22	Jackson State (BBN Invitational | Unity Series)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 26	Western Kentucky (BBN Invitational)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Nov. 29	Georgia State	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 3	at Clemson (SEC/ACC Challenge)	Clemson, S.C. | Littlejohn Coliseum
Dec. 7	vs. Gonzaga (Battle in Seattle)	Seattle | Climate Pledge Arena
Dec. 11	Colgate	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 14	Louisville	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Dec. 21	vs. Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic)	New York | Madison Square Garden
Dec. 31	Brown	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 4	Florida (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 7/8	at Georgia (SEC)	Athens, Ga. | Stegeman Coliseum
Jan. 11	at Mississippi State (SEC)	Starkville, Miss.| Humphrey Coliseum
Jan. 14/15	Texas A&M (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 18	Alabama (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Jan. 25	at Vanderbilt (SEC)	Nashville, Tenn. | Memorial Gymnasium
Jan. 28	at Tennessee (SEC)	Knoxville, Tenn. | Thompson-Boling Arena
Feb. 1	Arkansas (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 4/5	at Ole Miss (SEC)	Oxford, Miss. | Pavilion at Ole Miss
Feb. 8	South Carolina (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 11/12	Tennessee (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 15	at Texas (SEC)	Austin, Texas | Moody Center
Feb. 18/19	Vanderbilt (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Feb. 22	at Alabama (SEC)	Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Coleman Coliseum
Feb. 25/26	at Oklahoma (SEC)	Norman, Okla. | Lloyd Noble Center
March 1	Auburn (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
March 4/5	LSU (SEC)	Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
March 8	at Missouri (SEC)	Columbia, Mo. | Mizzou Arena