SEC Schedule Released

[Joneslab]

Kentucky will have to go to Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, and Texas A&M with no return trips to Rupp for those teams. That's...tough. Have to play Florida and Tennessee on the road as well.

All in all, next year's schedule will be one of the toughest Kentucky has ever played. And yes I said ever.

https://x.com/JackPilgrimKSR/status/1935359072137597325

[KCKUKFan]

This year's schedule is gonna be brutal. We might have 10 losses just because of it.

[Joneslab]

This year's schedule is gonna be brutal. We might have 10 losses just because of it.

I hope next year's team can be like Bama, Auburn, and Florida just were this past year and tear through a bunch of wins in a row through the middle of the season. But you never know.

With these transfer-heavy teams there's gonna be some adjustment, and sometimes in this sport you just get beat even if you play well.

I don't think the SEC is going to be as much of a grind...but it'll still be tough.

[KCKUKFan]

I know people love brutal schedules, but I really don't.

I like to win and not stress. Two or three marquee games in the non conference and then the usual SEC grind is perfectly sufficient.

This year we've got:

Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Gonzaga
Indiana
St. John's
Florida x2
Tennessee x2
@ Auburn
@ Alabama
@ Arkansas
Texas

What are we even doing here?

[Catsrock]

I know people love brutal schedules, but I really don't.

I like to win and not stress. Two or three marquee games in the non conference and then the usual SEC grind is perfectly sufficient.

This year we've got:

Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Gonzaga
Indiana
St. John's
Florida x2
Tennessee x2
@ Auburn
@ Alabama
@ Arkansas
Texas

What are we even doing here?

Hopefully growing, gelling and just getting tough for March. Then reap rewards 🤞

Likely somewhere in that grind someone (other than the Cats) is not what they were last year. Particularly in conference.

[KCKUKFan]

Hopefully growing, gelling and just getting tough for March. Then reap rewards 🤞

Likely somewhere in that grind someone (other than the Cats) is not what they were last year. Particularly in conference.

This is one way to look at it. The other way is that we get grinded into a pulp like last year. I doubt it, if only because of the way Pope built this upcoming roster. But playing that sort of schedule is a risky proposition, even with a top tier team.

[Joneslab]

I've never come to a conclusion about whether very tough schedules are good for a team or bad. Always the team that wins a title comes out of a power conference, so they're always playing somewhat of a tough schedule. But these teams who intentionally go out and schedule a gauntlet in the out-of-conference...I'm not sure if there's enough evidence one way or the other to say it's a good or bad thing.

Florida last year would've had to have played one of the all-time hardest schedules. But the trick for them was to be healthy at the end; they'd had some injuries through the year that were resolved by March. They also got a key player eligible about midway through.

I think that more than the schedule is probably the trick: having all your key players healthy by the time the tournament starts. The last time Kentucky had that with a really good championship-caliber team was 2012.

[Catsrock]

Well the SEC has proven to be at the top of the NIL food chain. So IF the schedule needs fixing the only way to soften it is to eliminate marquee November and December matchups. Would essentially make us the anti-Gonzaga—end loaded rather than front loaded. That would make an awfully long wait to see what ya got.

[Matt Dillon]

As with most things in life, some people are going to be unhappy either way. I seem to recall, not so long ago, that some fans were wanting a harder non-conf. schedule. One with more marquee names.

[Joneslab]

As with most things in life, some people are going to be unhappy either way. I seem to recall, not so long ago, that some fans were wanting a harder non-conf. schedule. One with more marquee names.

We've had a few years where the out-of-conference schedule was VERY soft. That's not good for a couple reasons. One, it probably doesn't prepare your team for March. But two, it doesn't give ticket holders a lot of chances to see a good game in Rupp Arena. This is especially the case if the SEC is weak.

[Catsrock]

There’s also the issue of not really knowing who you’re getting when you schedule an opponent. With massive turnover every summer in most programs you just don’t know for sure. Cal probably didn’t know he was scheduling the worst team in the country when he scheduled UL in the Payneful era 🤣

[Joneslab]

There’s also the issue of not really knowing who you’re getting when you schedule an opponent. With massive turnover every summer in most programs you just don’t know for sure. Cal probably didn’t know he was scheduling the worst team in the country when he scheduled UL in the Payneful era 🤣

Also didn't know what he was getting into when he scheduled perennial juggernauts Richmond and Evansville.

[DA#23]

Evansville has a one game winning streak against us in Rupp…..

[Catsrock]

Evansville has a one game winning streak against us in Rupp…..

My cousin’s son (so my 2nd cousin, duh) will be suiting up as a Purple Ace this coming season. Great kid.