Report: Kentucky near finalizing men's basketball schedule with homecourt, multi-team event

Kentucky is slated to play one of the more difficult non-conference schedules in the country next season. Now, with the release of their conference opponents as well as reporting on the final parts of their non-conference, the Wildcats’ schedule is almost set and official for ’25-’26.

Per Rocco Miller, Kentucky will host Valparaiso and Eastern Illinois in a multi-team event, with EIU and Valpo also playing one another separately, at some point during the non-conference at Rupp Arena. Those games should be among the last matchups, if not the final ones, for next season at UK.

“Sources: Kentucky will host a Multi-Team Event (MTE) once again in 2025-26. Valparaiso and Eastern Illinois are slated to participate, with EIU also traveling to Valpo. Dates are still TBD,” Miller tweeted on Thursday. “That should do it for the Wildcats’ scheduling for the coming season.”

Miller also appeared to break that Kentucky would also be hosting Southern on December 7th. That isn’t part of the event with Beacons and Panthers, but that game against the Jaguars had yet to be reported on to this point.

This is the latest edition of an MTE that Kentucky will host in Lexington. They’ve done several in the past with the events all titled separately with names like the BBN Invitational, the Wildcat Challenge, the Kentucky Classic, the Bluegrass Showcase, the BBN Showcase, and the Adolph Rupp Classic, among others, going back to 2017. That’s not to mention the Unity Series that’s ongoing as well.

Kentucky is 4-0 combined all-time against Valparaiso and Southern, as it has never played Eastern Illinois before. Two of those have come in the NCAA Tournament with wins over the Jaguars in 1988 and the Beacons in 2002 in the opening rounds of March Madness. The other two came during recently during the tenure of John Calipari with an 87-63 win over Valpo in December of 2016 and then a 76-64 win over Southern as the inaugural game of the Unity Series in December of 2021.

With this, the Wildcats are likely close to done, if not now complete, with their schedule for year two under Mark Pope. It starts after exhibition games against Purdue and Georgetown, with a non-conference that includes Louisville, Michigan State in the Champions Classic.

Then, the Wildcats get North Carolina in the SEC/ACC Challenge, Gonzaga in Nashville, as well as Indiana and St. John’s in the CBS Sports Classic. Their conference opponents were announced yesterday, with notable matchups against Florida and Tennessee twice, as well as road games at Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn.

That’ll make up most of the schedule for a team that should enter the season as a top five to Top 10 team under Pope. Kentucky, with a roster made up of six returners, has three incoming freshmen, as well as an international addition, and six transfers from a top portal class. The Wildcats expect to be in contention in the conference and nationally through this winter and into March.

The Wildcats will be playing some big-time games over the course of next season. Among them now, per these reports, will be matchups against Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, and Southern over the start of the season in November and December.