Deep dive into Kentucky's 2026 schedule

This week Will Stein’s first football schedule at Kentucky was revealed. We now know not only the opponents Kentucky will face during the 2026 season but also the dates for those games.

We’ve known who the Cats will face and where the games will take place for a long time but the sequence of action is meaningful as well.

Here’s a deep dive into Kentucky’s 2026 football schedule and what is significant about it.

Sept. 5 – Youngstown State at Kentucky

Kentucky takes on Youngstown State the year after the Youngstown native moves on. Kentucky defeated Youngstown State 31-0 during the 2022 season and this marks another matchup between the two programs.

Sept. 12 – Alabama at Kentucky

It’s always a huge deal when Alabama comes to town. It doesn’t happen very often in the age of megaconferences. The Crimson Tide did make it back into the playoff in Kalen Deboer’s second year. We’ll see if Michigan targets him to be its head coach. We know Alabama will bring a talented team to Kroger Field. But this could be a spot where Kentucky could have a shot at a massive upset given how susceptible the Tide has been on the road. Alabama gets East Carolina at home in Week 1. That’s a little more of a test than Kentucky will get but this will mark the Tide’s first road game of the season.

Sept. 19 – Texas A&M at Kentucky

Texas A&M has been one of the SEC’s best teams in Mike Elko’s second season and the Aggies will be coming off at least a playoff appearance. Marcel Reed has had an outstanding season and he has already announced he will return to College Station. A&M draws home games against Missouri State and Arizona State before it travels to Lexington. So this will be A&M’s first road game of the year as well.

Sept. 26 – South Alabama at Kentucky

Kentucky has thrived in games against non-power conference opponents in recent years. We’ll see if that trend continues under Will Stein. The Jaguars were 4-8 in 2025. Former Texas quarterback and long-time coordinator Major Applewhite is South Alabama’s head coach.

Oct. 3 – Kentucky at South Carolina

When things were going well for Mark Stoops he was winning this game every year. There are no conference games you can bank on as wins every year moving forward but Kentucky has to play a lot better in this game for the big picture to improve. This will be the first road game of the season for Kentucky. Depending on who the quarterback is that could make for a challenge. Shane Beamer promised at the end of the regular season that South Carolina would be in the playoff conversation so we will see what offseason moves the Gamecocks make. In Beamer’s defense there have been a lot up up and down, ebbs and flows during his tenure. On the surface this looks like the most manageable road game the Cats have on the schedule. South Carolina is playing at Alabama the week before this game.

Oct. 10 – LSU at Kentucky

This marks LSU’s first trip to Kentucky since the Cats’ 42-21 against the Tigers in 2021. Kentucky did a good job of playing very competitive games against Lane Kiffin teams when Mark Stoops was the coach. We know that Kiffin retained defensive coordinator Blake Baker and is bringing in offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., with him.

Oct. 17 – Kentucky at Oklahoma

Kentucky and Oklahoma have only met three times in history with the Sooners leading the series 2-1 but Kentucky coming out on top in that 1951 Sugar Bowl. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since Oklahoma joined the Southeastern Conference. Brent Venables’ defense should be a major challenge for Stein’s first Kentucky offense.

Oct. 31 – OPEN

Kentucky’s only bye week during the 2026 regular season comes on Halloween. That’s seven games into the season and after five SEC games in six weeks. That will be a grind. It will be interesting to see the state of the roster and the injury report when this date rolls around.

Nov. 7 – Kentucky at Tennessee

Kentucky has won once in Knoxville since 1984. It’s never going to be easy there but a new coach offers a chance for a new series dynamic to emerge. Mark Stoops against Josh Heupel was a matchup that didn’t go so well for the Cats.

Nov. 14 – Florida at Kentucky

Traditionally this is a week when Kentucky would have an easier opponent, perhaps an FCS foe. That would have been almost like a bye. We could have expected a bunch of younger players to see the field. It might have been an opportunity to rest some guys or get somebody back from injury. Florida will be a much bigger test. This will be Jon Sumrall and Brad White returning to Lexington. This series took on a new life of its own in recent years thanks to Mark Stoops. It will be interesting to see the course it takes with the new head coaches in their respective roles.

Nov. 21 – Kentucky at Missouri

The Cats and Tigers competed every year for more than a decade when Missouri came into the league but the rivalry has been paused the last two years because divisions were eliminated. Missouri has a chance to win its 30th game in three seasons in its bowl. The Tigers have an established pattern of winning against favorable SEC schedules. We’ll see if that continues next year. It looked like Mizzou might lose Eli Drinkwitz to the coaching carousel

Nov. 28 – Louisville at Kentucky

The Governor’s Cup rivalry returns to Lexington after Louisville has won two in a row. Jeff Brohm was a candidate for a number of open positions but seems likely to return to Louisville. Given the difficulty of the schedule in Will Stein’s first year this game could be an important opportunity to win some goodwill and build some excitement going into the offseason. It will certainly be important for recruiting given the number of top 2027 and 2028 prospects in the city of Louisville.