Kentucky vs. North Carolina matchup in SEC/ACC Challenge set for early December

Reports of Kentucky hosting North Carolina in this year’s SEC/ACC Challenge have been confirmed.

On Thursday, UK officially announced the Wildcats will face the Tar Heels on Tuesday, Dec. 2, although a tipoff time and TV designation have yet to be released. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports broke the news on Wednesday, which includes other notable matchups such as Florida at Duke, Clemson at Alabama, NC State at Auburn, and Louisville at Arkansas.

North Carolina leads the all-time series against Kentucky, 25-18, but the ‘Cats have won three of the last four meetings and five of the last seven. The last time these two programs battled at Rupp Arena, Kentucky won 84-70 back in December 2014. UK is 8-6 against UNC when the game is played in Lexington.

Also of note, former Kentucky target Caleb Wilson, an incoming five-star freshman forward, committed to UNC over the ‘Cats earlier this year. He’ll get his chance to play in Rupp after all, but without the Big Blue Nation by his side.

With the SEC/ACC Challenge date officially on the schedule, Kentucky has filled 10 of its 13 non-conference matchups, not counting preseason exhibitions against Purdue (a projected top-five team in 2025-26) and Georgetown.

The latest non-conference game we know about so far is against Bellarmine on Dec. 23. Going off last season’s schedule, SEC action didn’t begin until early January, meaning we’ll likely see another game or two added in between the Bellarmine matchup and the beginning of SEC play. It’s also likely we’ll see another game added ahead of the showdown with Louisville on Nov. 11, which would currently be the season-opener if the schedule remained as is.

Kentucky’s SEC schedule is slowly leaking out, too. Rothstein has previously reported that Mark Pope‘s team will take on defending national champion Florida twice for a home-and-home, along with one matchup against John Calipari‘s Arkansas team, which will come on the road.

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 | Madison Square Garden (New York)
• Nov. 21 (Fri.): vs. Loyola University Maryland | Rupp Arena
• Nov. 26 (Wed.): vs. Tennessee Tech | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 2: North Carolina | SEC/ACC Challenge | Rupp Arena
• Dec. 5 (Fri.): vs. Gonzaga | Bridgestone Arena (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 | State Farm Arena (Atlanta)
• Dec. 23 (Tue.): vs. Bellarmine | Rupp Arena