NBC Sports ranked their Top 30 Non-Conference Games to watch this coming season, Kentucky Wildcats play in three of the top four.
Kentucky always plays a tough non-conference schedule and this season will be no different. NBC has UK playing three of the top four must-see non-conference games.
Here are the excerpts for those games. The full list of games can be found HERE.
1. Duke vs. Kentucky – Champions Classic in Chicago – Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Two preseason top-5 five teams with a Hall of Fame coach on each sideline should be enough to get you to tune in.
Duke cut down the nets to the program’s fifth national title, while Kentucky fell two games short of a perfect season. Coach K and Cal continue the revolving door of talent at each of their programs, as seven five-star recruits (four to Duke, three to UK) replace the seven first round picks the Blue Devils and Wildcats combined for this past June.
There are important returning pieces on each side, as well. Kentucky floor general Tyler Ulis, who logged the fourth most minutes on the team despite not starting in a single game last season, and Duke guard Grayson Allen, who had 16 points in the national championship game, are both expected to have breakout sophomore seasons.
Kentucky and Duke are 1-1 against each other in the Champions Classic, which began in 2011.
3. Kentucky vs. Kansas – Jan. 30 (TBD)
The Big 12/SEC Challenge moves to the second half of the season, creating a late-January clash between Kentucky and Kansas inside Allen Fieldhouse. There’s plenty of basketball to be played between now and Jan. 30, but these two teams, pegged as national title contenders, will be in midseason form when they meet up in Lawrence.
Last year, Kentucky put a 32-point beatdown on Kansas when the two sides met in the Champions Classic.
4. Louisville vs. Kentucky – Dec. 26 (TBD)
There’s no better way for the Cardinals and Wildcats to each end their non-conference schedules.
Skal Labissiere, Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe, Damion Lee, Trey Lewis and Donovan Mitchell are some of the new faces to the rivalry, but expect similar results when they meet up in Rupp. The last six meetings, dating back to 2011, have all been decided by eight points or fewer. Kentucky has won five of those six.
