Kentucky’s 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule is now complete, and the final exhibition game brings a Big 12 opponent into Rupp Arena.
UK announced Friday that it will host UCF on Oct. 28 in what will serve as the preseason finale for Mark Pope’s team. The Knights join a three-game exhibition slate that also includes Little Rock on Oct. 16 and Texas Tech on Oct. 23, with all three games set for Rupp.
Under NCAA rule changes taking effect this season, college basketball teams can play as many as three exhibition games and 32 regular-season games, an increase of one in each category from the previous setup.
Kentucky’s regular-season schedule is already set, beginning with the opener against Manhattan on Nov. 3 in Rupp Arena.
UCF gives the Wildcats a legitimate late tuneup. The Knights finished 21-12 overall and 9-9 in Big 12 play last season, then earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling to UCLA in the opening round. It was their first March Madness appearance since 2019, and the early Torvik ratings still have UCF at No. 51 nationally even after the loss of its top five scorers.
Johnny Dawkins enters his 11th season leading the Knights, and UCF’s transfer haul has drawn attention. According to 247Sports, the Knights own the nation’s No. 58 transfer class, led by former five-star recruit Dior Johnson.
The 6-foot-3 guard began his Division I career at UCF, moved to Tarleton State, and averaged 24.0 points per game last season under Billy Gillispie before transferring back. Johnson was rated a four-star portal player by 247Sports this spring.
Former Oklahoma State guard Arturo Dean is also expected to play a major role, and 7-foot-2 junior John Bol returns after starting all 33 games last season. Bol started his college career at Ole Miss and played sparingly there as a freshman.
Kentucky, meanwhile, could open the season with top-10 buzz. Pope has assembled the No. 1 transfer class in the country, according to 247Sports, a group headlined by projected starters Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Milan Momcilovic and Mark Mitchell, who remains in an NCAA eligibility battle. Malachi Moreno and Kam Williams are among the key returnees from last year’s team.
The preseason begins with Big Blue Madness in Rupp Arena on Oct. 2.
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Kentucky Fans Will Love Who Just Dropped By Practice
A familiar face stopped by Kentucky football practice recently, and it was one that should land well with the fan base. Actor Steve Zahn, a longtime Wildcats supporter, visited to help promote the second season of his Hulu series "Chad Powers," and new coach Will Stein introduced him to the team during the session.
Zahn also has a real Kentucky connection through his work on the role, having shadowed former coach Mark Stoops while preparing for the part and later speaking about the pressure college coaches deal with. He gave the players a brief pep talk and encouraged them to check out the show, a crossover moment that tied the current staff, the program's past and a little off-field buzz together in one visit. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Fans Are About To Learn What This New Offense Can Change
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The early part of the schedule will do a lot of the talking, because the Wildcats are about to find out quickly how much this reset can actually change. The articles game-by-game look at 2026 points to a rough start, with Alabama and Texas A&M waiting up front, and those matchups should offer an immediate read on whether the new scheme can travel against elite defenses. For Kentucky, the intrigue is not just whether Stein can lift the offense, but whether the first few weeks of the season show a program finally capable of looking different when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Secondary May Be Leaning On A Breakout Defender
Kentuckys secondary has already spent part of the offseason sorting out what the next version of the defense might look like, and junior defensive back Terhyon Nichols has given the new staff a reason to believe hell be part of the answer. Cornerbacks coach Allen Brown singled out Nichols during preseason workouts for the way he has approached the work, a notable development for a player who arrived with four-star pedigree and then carved out a meaningful role last season even while dealing with injuries.
The Wildcats also made sure Nichols remains in the picture for 2026, a sign the new coaching staff sees him as more than just a depth option. Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman has been equally upbeat about Nichols growth and what it could mean once the season gets rolling, leaving Kentucky with an increasingly interesting question in the defensive backfield: whether Nichols is simply a reliable returning piece or the kind of breakout defender that can help shape the units ceiling. [Read more 🡒]