The full 2022-23 Kentucky basketball schedule is coming soon. Here’s what we know so far.

The start of Kentucky’s 2022-23 basketball season is now just a little more than two months away, but there are still several moving parts to the Wildcats’ schedule for the upcoming campaign.

The unique slate of games — a location change for the Blue-White scrimmage, a last-minute addition of a marquee opponent, plus a trip to England to work around — has led to a later-than-usual reveal of the Cats’ full schedule.

Typically, the UK non-conference slate is finalized much earlier. Last year, that schedule came out at the end of August. In previous years, the Cats’ non-conference lineup was official by the end of July (and often much earlier). Obviously, that won’t be happening this time around, with the calendar now flipping to September.

Here’s the latest on Kentucky’s schedule, along with what to expect next.

Kentucky basketball preseason

UK has technically already started its preseason slate — playing four games in the Bahamas last month — but there have been no official details on the traditional beginning to the Cats’ season.

The expected date for Big Blue Madness in Rupp Arena is Oct. 14, but that has not been announced or finalized just yet. UK is also still working on the logistics of a possible return of the Madness campout, which John Calipari said this summer that he wanted back after a two-year hiatus.

There will also be added intrigue around the annual Blue-White scrimmage this preseason. It was announced at the team’s open practice to benefit Eastern Kentucky flood relief last month that the game would be moved to that region. The Herald-Leader was told this week that those plans are still being worked out, with the scrimmage expected to be held in Pikeville the week after Madness (making Oct. 21 a possible date).

Kentucky typically plays two exhibition games before the start of the regular season. No opponents have been announced, but at least one exhibition this season will be against an in-state program. In recent years, those two games have often been played on the two Fridays before the start of the regular season (making Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 possibilities).

UK’s 2022-23 non-conference schedule

So far, the only six games officially on the Kentucky schedule are part of the non-conference slate. They are …

Nov. 15 vs. Michigan State: This is the annual Champions Classic game, which will be held in Indianapolis this season (with Duke vs. Kansas as the other part of the doubleheader).

Nov. 29 vs. Bellarmine: The reigning Atlantic Sun Tournament champs continue their transition to Division I status, and the Knights will meet Kentucky for the first time with this trip to Rupp Arena.

Dec. 4 vs Michigan: The Cats travel overseas for an intriguing matchup with the Wolverines at The O2 Arena in London, a game originally scheduled for the 2020-21 season before being pushed back two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tip time is 1 p.m. EST (6 p.m. in London).

Dec. 17 vs. UCLA: The CBS Sports Classic moves to Madison Square Garden in New York, where Kentucky meets UCLA in what could be a battle of two top-10 teams. The game will be played at 5:15 p.m. on CBS.

Dec. 31 vs. Louisville: Longtime Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne returns to Rupp Arena in year one as U of L’s head coach. The rivalry game goes down on New Year’s Eve this year, with a noon tip-off on CBS.

Jan. 28: vs. Kansas: Kentucky gets the defending national champions at home this season after traveling to Lawrence for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge last year. This will be a marquee Saturday game featuring a pair of top-10 preseason teams.

It’s not officially on the Kentucky schedule just yet, but the Cats will play Gonzaga — the possible No. 1 team in the preseason rankings — on Nov. 20 at Spokane Arena. The Zags will play at Rupp Arena during the 2023-24 season. This should be an epic sports weekend for UK, with the football Wildcats hosting Georgia on Nov. 19.

The relatively late addition of the UK-Gonzaga game — it was also announced at UK’s open practice last month — caused a ripple effect across the rest of the Cats’ non-conference schedule. The details there are still being worked out.

Duquesne, North Florida and Yale have all been revealed as opponents for Kentucky this season. Duquesne and North Florida are expected to be two of the three opponents for UK’s MTE (multi-team event), with those three games taking place at Rupp Arena. Yale, which won the Ivy League Tournament last season, will be a standalone game.

UK will play at least one regular-season game before the Champions Classic matchup against Michigan State, but that opponent has not yet been finalized.

With Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday this year — plus the UK-Michigan game in London set for a Sunday — that throws off the typical Kentucky basketball cycle of Saturday games in December. UK will still play Saturday games on Dec. 10 (not yet announced), Dec. 17 (UCLA) and Dec. 31 (Louisville).

Closer to Christmas, the Cats will play a midweek game before the holiday weekend, with Dec. 21 vs. Florida A&M looking like the date for that matchup. The Southeastern Conference opener is expected to be Dec. 28, with the Louisville game coming three days later before the Cats jump into the full SEC slate.

SEC schedule is coming soon

The league schedule is typically announced in the first half of September, and the Herald-Leader has been told that the SEC is hoping to reveal its 2022-23 games sometime next week. Kentucky is expected to start on the road on Dec. 28.

While the exact dates and times are not yet known, the matchups have already been announced.

The Cats will play home games against Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

UK will travel to play Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

The most recent update to the CBS Sports preseason rankings places Kentucky as the SEC’s best team at No. 4 nationally, with five additional league teams in the Top 25.

Arkansas is No. 6 nationally, followed by Tennessee at No. 9, Auburn at No. 13, Texas A&M at No. 18 and Alabama at No. 21.

The Cats will get four of those five teams in Rupp Arena this season. They play Alabama on the road, and they’ll face Arkansas and Tennessee twice during the regular season.

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