What a treat this is, preparing for a top-10 matchup inside Rupp Arena in late October. How often do we get to say Kentucky hosts the top-ranked team in the country on its home floor ever, let alone to open the exhibition schedule to unofficially tip off the 2025-26 season? The Wildcats enter the season ranked No. 9 overall — fitting, considering the program’s ultimate banner-hanging assignment for a ninth championship — and will bring in the No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers on October 24, scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
It’s the first of two exhibition matchups, followed by the Georgetown Hoyas coming to town on Oct.