Kentucky unveils men’s basketball nonconference schedule for 2024-25 season

Kentucky is entering a new era in men’s basketball. Out is John Calipari, who is now coaching at Arkansas. In is Mark Pope, who arrives in Lexington via BYU.

One thing that will remain the same? The Wildcats will have a loaded nonconference schedule, testing themselves against many elite teams before SEC play starts.

On Thursday, the Wildcats tweeted out their nonconference slate. The first game of the year will be Nov. 4 against Wright State at Rupp Arena. The first big matchup will be on Nov. 12, when the Wildcats head to Atlanta to play Duke in the Champions Classic.

Check out the full nonconference slate in the tweet below:

https://twitter.com/KentuckyMBB/status/1811402031485362683

In the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 3, Kentucky takes on Clemson. Then, 4 days later on Dec. 7, the Wildcats head out to Seattle to face Gonzaga.

Dec. 14 is the annual rivalry game against Louisville. This year, that game will take place at Rupp Arena. The last big-time matchup on the Kentucky nonconference slate is on Dec. 21, when the Wildcats go to New York to face Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic.

This will certainly be a daunting task for Pope in his first year at the helm of the program. But if he can guide Kentucky to a couple of big wins in nonconference play, it’ll build momentum heading into his first SEC season.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.