Kentucky basketball announces 2017-18 schedule, TV times and locations

John Calipari is gunning for his second national title since arriving in Lexington this season.

Another season for John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats is right around the corner. On Wednesday the program announced its full schedule, which begins with its annual Big Blue Madness kickoff on Oct. 13.

Here’s a look at the full schedule:

As always, Kentucky won’t have long before its first marquee matchup of the season. Following tuneups against Utah Valley and Vermont, Kentucky will face Kansas at the Champions Classic, which is held this year in Chicago. That will be the second game of the night, following Duke vs. Michigan State.

Things won’t get real again for Kentucky until Dec. 16, when Virginia Tech visits Rupp Arena on a Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Hokies are the No. 21 team in our preseason college basketball countdown. The Wildcats will follow that up with a game against another ranked team, UCLA, at the CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans on Dec. 23.

December ends with the biggest game of the year, at least locally. Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals will visit Kentucky on Dec. 29, in a game that is strangely scheduled for a Friday at 1 p.m. After that, Kentucky will start SEC conference play with a game against Georgia.

The SEC won’t be a pushover this season. Kentucky plays home-and-aways against Missouri, Florida, and Texas A&M. Mike White’s Gators should be the stiffest competition in the conference. Kentucky also faces Avery Johnson’s Alabama team and travels to face an upstart Auburn program in back-to-back games in mid-February.

The SEC tournament will run March 7-11 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

For more information on college basketball’s early season tournaments, check out this guide from Blogging the Bracket.