The UK Basketball Schedule Is Loaded With Nostalgia and an Odd Game Date

As I anticipate the arrival of fall, I'm also looking forward to the college sports season. I'm a big college football fan, but an even bigger (much bigger) college hoops fan. And now that the schedules are being released, my excitement grows.

I don't hurry the football season; I enjoy it too much. But I'm jazzed about what I'm seeing on the University of Kentucky's 2025-2026 schedule. If nothing else, it's packed with nostalgia. We'll start with one of those games because one of those games starts the season, oddly enough.

UK vs. U of L

Kentucky vs. Louisville is among the iconic rivalries in all of sports, but the annual slugfest has never happened as early as it will in the coming season. I've checked the dates of every previous regular-season game between these archrivals, and they have never played one another as the season opener. That tradition breaks on November 11th in the KFC Yum! Center.

UK vs. North Carolina

Although this isn't a traditional rivalry, these two college hoops blue bloods have met 43 times on the hardwood. North Carolina leads the series 25-18, but Kentucky has had the edge over the last 15 seasons, going 8-4 against the Tar Heels. They first played each other in 1924, with Carolina winning by 21 points. The Wildcats own the most recent victory, a 4-point decision in Atlanta in 2023. We'll see who nabs the W when the two hook up in Rupp Arena on December 2nd as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.

UK vs. Indiana

This is the one that rang my nostalgia bell the hardest, and for a few reasons. Kentucky won the national title at the end of the 2011-2012 season, a season that featured just two losses for the Wildcats. One of those defeats was a buzzer-beater to the Hoosiers in Bloomington on December 10th, 2011. I'm surprised the reaction to the winning shot didn't register on the Richter scale.

For 42 seasons, the Kentucky-Indiana game was a highlight of the college basketball season, but former UK coach John Calipari opted to discontinue the series in 2012. Since that season, the 'Cats and the Hoosiers have only played each other one time, and that was an NCAA Tournament game in 2016, a win for Indiana. So, for the first time in nine years, UK and IU will meet again, and in Rupp Arena, on December 13th. It's about time.

UK vs. St. John's

If you're a longtime fan of Big Blue, you might be scratching your head over this inclusion. But when you think about it, it belongs here because of this game's coaching battle. Kentucky and St. John's only have 16 games between them on the books. The Wildcats own the lead in the series, 11-5. And the two teams haven't even met in 14 years. That 2011 matchup resulted in a 22-point blowout win for Kentucky. But former UK head coach Rick Pitino is now at the helm for the Red Storm. And the captain of his 1996 UK championship team is now the UK head coach. Mark Pope vs. Rick Pitino at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on December 20th. Merry Christmas, indeed.

I can't wait for the 2025-2026 UK basketball season...and the nostalgia it will bring with it.