The 2022-23 Kentucky men’s basketball schedule has been set. You can see the full schedule here or download a printable 2022-23 Kentucky men’s basketball schedule here. Along with the 18-game Southeastern Conference schedule announced last month, the Wildcats will play 13 nonconference contests, along with a pair of exhibitions.
Every UK game will be on national television or via streaming through CBS or ESPN’s family of networks, including SEC Network. Kentucky’s exhibition games, Pro Day, Big Blue Madness, Blue-White Game and the SEC Tournament will also be broadcast or streamed.
The 2022-23 Kentucky men’s basketball schedule will begin with a pair of exhibition contests against Missouri Western State on Oct. 30 and Kentucky State on Nov. 3. Between the 13-game nonconference slate and the SEC schedule, Kentucky will take on 11 NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. Some notes on the Wildcats’ 2022-23 opponents: Kentucky’s nonconference schedule features home games with Louisville and reigning national champion Kansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to go along with an away contest at Gonzaga in Spokane. In addition, the Wildcats face neutral-site matchups with Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic in Indianapolis, Michigan in London and against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic in New York. Kentucky also hosts Duquesne, South Carolina State and North Florida in the three-game Tribute Classic presented by Kentucky Tourism.
In conference play, Kentucky faces Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt both home and away. The Wildcats host Auburn, LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M and travel to Alabama, Mississippi State, Missouri and Ole Miss.
Ten SEC teams received postseason invitations last season, including six to the NCAA Tournament. The SEC has had 27 NCAA Tournament selections over the last four tournaments. The SEC Tournament returns to Nashville, Tennessee, when Bridgestone Arena hosts the event from March 8-12, 2023.
| Opponent | 2021-22 Record | Postseason | Final NET Ranking | Final Ranking (AP/Coaches) | KenPom.com Final Ranking | Series History | Last Meeting |
| Missouri Western State (Exh.) | 14-17 | — | — | — | — | Never met | — |
| Kentucky State (Exh.) | 9-15 | — | — | — | — | 2-0 (in exhibitions) | UK won, 83-51 on Nov. 1, 2019 (exhibition) |
| Howard | 16-13 | — | 241 | -/- | 234 | Never met | First meeting |
| Duquesne | 6-24 | — | 278 | -/- | 280 | UK leads 2-0 | UK won 93-59 on Nov. 20, 2016 |
| Michigan St. | 23-13 | NCAA Second Round | 38 | -/- | 42 | UK leads 14-11 | UK won 69-62 on Nov. 5, 2019 |
| South Carolina State | 15-16 | — | 302 | -/- | 306 | UK leads 1-0 | UK won 82-67 on March 13, 1998 |
| Gonzaga | 28-4 | NCAA Sweet 16 | 1 | 5/1 | 1 | UK leads 1-0 | UK won 80-72 on Nov. 27, 2002 |
| North Florida | 11-20 | — | 275 | -/- | 272 | UK leads 1-0 | UK won 86-52 on Nov. 26, 2021 |
| Bellarmine | 20-13 | — | 197 | -/- | 200 | Never met | First meeting |
| Michigan | 19-15 | NCAA Sweet 16 | 27 | 25/- | 27 | UK leads 5-2 | UK won 75-72 on March 30, 2014 |
| Yale | 19-12 | NCAA First Round | 149 | -/- | 147 | UK leads 1-0 | UK won 79-58 on Dec. 27, 1961 |
| UCLA | 27-8 | NCAA Sweet 16 | 11 | 11/11 | 11 | UK leads 8-7 | UCLA won 60-54 on Dec. 23, 2017 |
| Florida A&M | 13-17 | — | 310 | -/- | 309 | UK leads 1-0 | UK won 96-76 on March 19, 2004 |
| Louisville | 13-19 | — | 130 | -/- | 127 | UK leads 37-17 | UofL won 62-59 on Dec. 26, 2020 |
| Kansas | 34-6 | NCAA Champion | 3 | 1/3 | 3 | UK leads 24-10 | UK won 80-62 on Jan. 29, 2021 |
| Missouri | 12-21 | — | 151 | -/- | 137 | UK leads 14-2 | UK won 83-56 on Dec. 29, 2021 |
| LSU | 22-12 | NCAA First Round | 20 | -/- | 21 | UK leads 92-28 | UK won 71-66 on Feb. 23, 2022 |
| Alabama | 19-14 | NCAA First Round | 32 | -/- | 28 | UK leads 116-40 | UK won 90-81 on Feb. 19, 2022 |
| South Carolina | 18-13 | — | 93 | -/- | 99 | UK leads 54-13 | UK won 86-76 on Feb. 8, 2022 |
| Tennessee | 27-8 | NCAA Second Round | 7 | 15/5 | 9 | UK leads 158-77 | UT won 69-62 on March 12, 2022 |
| Georgia | 6-26 | — | 223 | -/- | 219 | UK leads 130-27 | UK won 92-77 on Jan. 8, 2022 |
| Texas A&M | 27-13 | NIT Championship Game | 36 | -/- | 33 | UK leads 12-4 | UK won 64-58 on Jan. 19, 2022 |
| Vanderbilt | 19-17 | — | 62 | -/- | 64 | UK leads 154-47 | UK won 77-71 on March 11, 2022 |
| Ole Miss | 13-19 | — | 110 | -/- | 108 | UK leads 109-14 | UK won 83-72 on March 1, 2022 |
| Florida | 20-14 | NIT Second Round | 61 | -/- | 59 | UK leads 107-41 | UK won 71-63 on March 5, 2022 |
| Arkansas | 28-9 | NCAA Elite Eight | 21 | 8/17 | 18 | UK leads 33-13 | UA won 75-73 Feb. 26, 2022 |
| Mississippi St. | 18-16 | NIT First Round | 60 | -/- | 49 | UK leads 100-21 | UK won 82-74 on Jan. 25, 2022 |
| Auburn | 28-6 | NCAA Second Round | 13 | 14/8 | 12 | UK leads 97-22 | AU won 80-71 on Jan. 22, 2022 |
The Wildcats’ returning core is headlined by Oscar Tshiebwe, the reigning National Player of the Year, who led the country with 15.1 rebounds per game and also paced the Cats in scoring at 17.4 points per game. Kentucky will also welcome back Sahvir Wheeler, who led the conference and ranked third in the country with 6.9 assists per game. Forwards Daimion Collins, Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware all were instrumental in helping the Wildcats to a 26-8 record and a No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
In all, UK is returning 44.3% of its scoring production, 58.4% of its rebounding, 50% of its steals, 51.2% of its assists and 72.3% of its blocks from a season ago.
Kentucky also welcomes in five dynamic newcomers, including top-10 signees Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace. Both players were Gatorade State Players of the Year and McDonald’s All Americans. Fast-rising prospects Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso inked with the Cats during the late signing period. UK also added one of the top transfers in Antonio Reeves, who ranked among the nation’s top 20 individual scorers a season ago at Illinois State averaging 20.1 points per game.
Fans interested in acquiring new men’s basketball season tickets are encouraged to enter the season ticket lottery online. For more information on lower-level seating that is currently available with a K Fund pledge commitment, please reach out to the UK Athletics K Fund staff at (859) 257-6300.
Information regarding single-game tickets and on-sale dates will be released in the next few weeks.
New this year for basketball, SafeTix will be implemented as an additional feature on mobile tickets. To fight fraud, Ticketmaster launched SafeTix, which uses an encrypted barcode that automatically refreshes every 15 seconds, or a tap-and-go ticket stored in a fan’s digital wallet. The process for accessing mobile tickets has not changed; however, with SafeTix, screenshots or recordings of tickets will no longer work for entry. Fans may still transfer tickets through their accounts and the UK Athletics App.
Kentucky basketball season ticket holders will receive an email with more information when mobile tickets are available to be managed, beginning the week of Oct. 17.