Kentucky will travel to Alabama to open SEC play on Jan. 3

The Mo Dioubate Bowl is officially on the books — the first official SEC game announced on Kentucky‘s schedule to open league play. The Wildcats will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama inside Coleman Coliseum on Saturday, January 3, 2026.

SEC Associate Commissioner Garth Glissman announced the opening weekend of the conference schedule on SEC This Morning with ESPN’s Peter Burns. Other games on Jan. 3 include Tennessee at Arkansas and Florida at Missouri.

“We’ve got three games on opening day that we’re confident are going to be top-25 matchups,” Glissman said. “In fact, depending on how non-conference play unfolds, any one of these three games could be the best game in college basketball that day. We’ll start with the defending national champion Florida Gators. They’re opening on the road at Missouri. That’s a team with high hopes for next year. You certainly have legendary coaches in the SEC, and if you like legendary coaches, how about Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers traveling to Arkansas to take on John Calipari? And then here’s one other game that I think is going to generate some excitement on opening day, maybe. Maybe just a little bit of excitement, tongue in cheek, and that is Kentucky at Alabama.”

Glissman also announced Kentucky will host Florida on the final day of the regular season on Saturday, March 7. Auburn at Alabama will also take place that day in what will officially be known as “Rivalry Saturday” moving forward.

“We are going to start the season strong, and we’re going to finish even stronger,” he said.

The full SEC schedule will be released later, but for now, this is how things look for the Wildcats:

• Jan. 3: at Alabama | Coleman Coliseum (Tuscaloosa, AL)
• TBA: at Arkansas | Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, AR)
• TBA: at Auburn | Neville Arena (Auburn, AL)
• TBA: at Florida | Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center (Gainesville, FL)
• TBA: at LSU | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, LA)
• TBA: at South Carolina | Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, SC)
• TBA: at Tennessee | Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center (Knoxville, TN)
• TBA: at Texas A&M | Reed Arena (College Station, TX)
• TBA: at Vanderbilt | Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville TN)
• TBA: vs. Georgia | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Ole Miss | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Mississippi State | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Missouri | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Oklahoma | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Tennessee | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Texas | Rupp Arena
• TBA: vs. Vanderbilt | Rupp Arena
• March 7: vs. Florida | Rupp Arena

What do you think, BBN? Not too shabby, eh?