Kentucky’s 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule is officially set, and the Wildcats will spend the fall easing into a season that opens with three exhibition games in Lexington before the real thing begins Nov. 3 against Manhattan.
The new NCAA rule allowing three exhibitions gives Kentucky a packed October inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Little Rock comes first on Oct. 16, followed by Texas Tech on Oct. 23 and UCF on Oct.
- That final exhibition against UCF was the last piece needed to complete the schedule.
Once the regular season starts, Kentucky’s home slate is loaded. Including the exhibitions, the Wildcats are set for 22 home games. During the regular season, they’ll face 15 NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, and the exhibition schedule adds Texas Tech and UCF, both tournament qualifiers.
The nonconference stretch brings plenty of variety. Kentucky will meet Kansas in Chicago on Nov.
10, Indiana in Indianapolis on Nov. 20 and North Carolina in New York on Dec. 19.
The Wildcats also get Virginia on Dec. 2 in Charlottesville and Louisville on Dec. 12 in Lexington. Other nonconference home dates include James Madison, Northern Arizona, Grambling State, Wichita State, Appalachian State, Bryant, Sacred Heart and Gardner-Webb.
SEC play starts Jan. 2 at Oklahoma and rolls through a demanding league slate that includes home games against Ole Miss, LSU, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn and Texas A&M. Kentucky’s road SEC trips include Missouri, Mississippi State, Texas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Florida.
The Wildcats’ schedule also features 12 games against teams ranked in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, with six of those at home. Five of those matchups come against teams in the top 10. Kentucky also has six first-time opponents on the docket this season.
There’s plenty of roster turnover, but Kentucky does bring back five players from last year’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32 team: Braydon Hawthorne, Malachi Moreno, Trent Noah, Reece Potter and Kam Williams. Moreno, who made the All-SEC Freshman Team, started 30 games and led the Wildcats in rebounds per game at 6.3, blocks per game at 1.47 and field goal percentage at 58.2%.
Williams played in 24 games and started seven, even while missing 12 games with a broken foot. He tied the program record for most made 3s in a game with eight against Bellarmine.
Noah appeared in 27 games as a sophomore and had two double-figure scoring nights, including a career-best 16 points against Tennessee Tech. Hawthorne and Potter both redshirted in 2025-26.
The transfer class is the headliner for the new group, and it starts with Milan Momcilovic, the nation’s leading 3-point shooter from a year ago. At Iowa State, Momcilovic averaged 16.9 points per game, hit a school-record 136 3s and shot 48.7 percent from beyond the arc. ESPN, 247 Sports and On3 each ranked him as a top-three transfer this offseason.
Kentucky also added Zoom Diallo, Jerone Morton and Alex Wilkins in the backcourt, along with Franck Kepnang and Justin McBride up front. Wilkins and McBride earned All-Conference honors at Furman and James Madison, respectively. Diallo and Kepnang both come from Washington, while Morton returns to Lexington after spending last season at Washington State.
The Wildcats’ newcomer group also includes Zyon Hawthorne, Ousmane N’Diaye and Mason Williams. Zyon Hawthorne is Braydon Hawthorne’s younger brother and finished his high school career at Huntington Prep.
N’Diaye is from Dakar, Senegal and has played in Europe, most recently with Vanoli Cremona in Italy’s top division. Williams, the son of UK assistant Mo Williams, posted 15.1 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals as a senior at Tennessee Collegiate Academy.
Fans interested in season tickets can enter the Kentucky men’s basketball season ticket lottery at UKathletics.com/MBBTix. Lower-level seating through a K Fund pledge commitment and premium club membership options are also available through the UK Athletics K Fund Office.
In Other News...
Kentuckys Ceiling Just Changed After A Massive Late Roster Boost
Mark Mitchells path to Lexington has already had an impact, even before a ball is tipped. After a Louisville judge granted an injunction in his case against the NCAA, Mitchell was cleared to play an additional season of college basketball, and his commitment to Kentucky gave the Wildcats a late jolt that showed up quickly in preseason perception. With Mitchell in the fold, Kentuckys roster suddenly looks deeper and more complete, and that has been reflected in the way national observers have started to view the team.
CBS Sports and Jon Rothstein have both adjusted their projections for the Wildcats, a sign of how much this addition changed the outlook in a short span. It is not just about climbing in preseason rankings, either. Mitchells arrival, along with other roster moves, has forced a rethinking of Kentuckys projected starting lineup and, by extension, the ceiling of a team that already looked intriguing before this latest boost. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Just Gave Kentucky Fans Fresh Rivalry Ammo
A new fanbase study has given Kentucky supporters a little extra ammunition for the annual back-and-forth with Louisville, and it comes from an unlikely place: Reddit. Andy Whiteoak of Covers.com dug through thousands of posts to rank the vulgarity of college football fanbases across the FBS, and the results put Louisville near the top of the list while also showing a pretty wide gap between the in-state rivals.
For Kentucky fans, the most useful part may be less about the exact ranking and more about the company Louisville kept. The Cardinals were the only ACC school in the top 10, while several other league schools landed among the least vulgar fanbases, a contrast that should give the rivalry another easy jab the next time the two sides trade barbs. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Has A New Reason To Push Hard For Seneca Driver
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The complication, of course, is that Driver is already committed elsewhere, and that only raises the stakes for Kentuckys pursuit. Even with a pledge in place, the Wildcats are continuing to push, hoping to change the conversation before signing day. For a program trying to build its future around top local talent, Driver is the sort of recruit worth the effort, which is why his latest standout performance may have only sharpened Kentuckys focus. [Read more 🡒]