Kentucky will kick off its 2027 and 2028 seasons earlier than usual, but the Wildcats are not headed for the spotlight of Week 0.
That was the early buzz after FBSSchedules.com reported that UK had shifted its openers to the Saturday before Labor Day weekend, a move some fans saw as a smart way to get more eyes on the program under new head coach Will Stein. In a year when only eight FBS games are on the slate for Saturday and most of the country won’t really dive in until Labor Day weekend, that kind of date can look like prime real estate.
But the NCAA has already changed the calendar. Earlier this year, it approved a rule that moves the official start of the football season from the Thursday before Labor Day to the Thursday 14 weeks before the first Saturday in December. Because of that change, the 2027 season will begin for most teams on the Saturday before Labor Day weekend, and schools will no longer need an NCAA waiver to play then.
That also means the date is likely to be crowded. With the chance to fit in two bye weeks during a 12-game regular season, most teams are expected to play that Saturday.
For Kentucky, the new dates are in the contracts obtained by the Herald-Leader through the state’s open records law. The Wildcats will open 2027 against Murray State on Aug. 28 and start 2028 against Eastern Illinois on Aug. 26.
Those games will come a week earlier than the usual start to UK’s season, but they probably won’t draw much national attention. Both opponents are FCS teams, and Kentucky has typically slotted those matchups into the SEC’s required streaming-only broadcast window.
The bigger shakeup for Kentucky’s schedule is the move to a nine-game SEC slate. The Wildcats swapped a nonconference home game against Akron for another league game this fall, and that shift will reshape the home-and-road balance over the next four years.
With nine SEC games, Kentucky will not have more than seven home games in any season during that span. In odd-numbered years, the Wildcats will host five SEC games but only two nonconference opponents, with the Louisville game on the road. In even-numbered years, they’ll have four SEC home games and also host Louisville.
Kentucky’s nonconference schedule over the next three years now looks like this:
2026
Sept.
5 - Youngstown State
Sept.
26 - South Alabama
Nov.
28 - Louisville
2027
Aug.
28 - Murray State
Sept.
25 - Ball State
Nov. 27 - at Louisville
2028
Aug.
26 - Eastern Illinois
Sept.
9 - Kent State
Nov.
25 - Louisville
2029
Sept.
1 - Georgia Southern
Sept.
8 - Eastern Kentucky
Nov. 24 - at Louisville
In Other News...
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
Kentucky heads into 2026 with a different voice running the program, and the hope around Will Stein is simple enough to understand: the offense has to look less stuck in neutral. After years of frustration on that side of the ball, Stein arrives with a reputation for getting more out of his offense, and his work at Oregon is a big reason the hire drew so much attention in Lexington. The challenge is obvious, though. The SEC does not give new play-callers much room to ease in, and Kentucky fans have spent long enough watching promises turn into the same old struggles.
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 🡒]