Kentucky will face defending national champions twice next season

Last season’s hardwood edition of Kentucky vs. Florida was an instant classic. The Wildcats will have two shots at the defending national champions in 2025-26.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported Wednesday that Kentucky and Florida will meet twice during regular-season conference play. The ‘Cats and Gators played each other just once in 2024-25, a thrilling 106-100 win for UK at Rupp Arena to open the SEC schedule. Florida went on to lose just three games the rest of the season, capped off with a win over Houston in the 2025 national title game.

Like Kentucky, Florida is expected to be among the best teams in the country next season. Despite losing several important backcourt pieces in the offseason, head coach Todd Golden has reloaded his guards while bringing back one of the deepest and most talented frontcourts out there.

Of note, head coach Mark Pope brought in one of those outgoing guards, Denzel Aberdeen, who was a key piece of Florida’s title-winning team and spent the last three seasons with the Gators. Aberdeen averaged 7.7 points in 19.8 minutes per outing for UF as a junior.

Kentucky holds a record of 110-42 against Florida throughout history, dating back to the very first meeting in 1927.

Sources: Kentucky and Florida — two of the SEC's top brands — will meet twice during the 2025-26 regular season as part of conference play.

The two programs only played once during the regular season last year.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 11, 2025

Rothstein also reported this week that Kentucky and Arkansas will play just once in 2025-26. The Wildcats only faced John Calipari‘s new team a single time last season, as well — an 89-79 upset win at Rupp Arena for the Razorbacks. This season’s game will take place at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Additionally, most of Kentucky’s non-conference schedule has been announced. Nine (out of 13) regular-season games, plus two high-major exhibitions, have already been announced. The entire SEC slate is expected to be officially announced soon, along with the Wildcats’ matchup for the SEC/ACC Challenge.

Kentucky’s 2025-26 non-conference 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 | Louisville
• Nov. 18 (Tue.): vs. Michigan State | Champions Classic (New York)
• Nov. 21 (Fri.): vs. Loyola University Maryland | Rupp Arena
• Nov. 26 (Wed.): vs. Tennessee Tech | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 5 (Fri.): vs. Gonzaga | Nashville
• 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 (Atlanta)
• Dec. 23 (Tue.): vs. Bellarmine | Rupp Arena
• TBD: SEC/ACC Challenge | TBD

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