Kentucky's basketball program has announced a number of non-conference games scheduled for the 2025-26 season and right now it's a blockbuster lineup of marquee matchups.
That doesn't even include Purdue, a national contender which will face Kentucky in an exhibition at Rupp Arena on Friday, Oct. 24.
Kentucky is slated to face St. John's, Louisville, Gonzaga, and Michigan State in the non-conference portion of the schedule. With much more scheduling set to be revealed, here's an attempt at ranking those four opponents based on what they look like on paper.
Note: Kentucky also has non-conference games scheduled against Bellarmine and North Carolina Central.
1. St. John's
At the end of last month Jon Rothstein made the assertion that St. John's will have the most talented roster in college basketball next season. Now, that doesn't mean all of the parts will fit perfectly or that it's the best assembled roster, but Pitino has the talent to be keep St. John's in the headlines all season. The Red Storm will be regarded as a national contender. Zuby Ejiofor returns (14.7 PPG) and Pitino, a defensive mastermind, should have a starting five made up of only players who averaged double digits at high-major stops last season. They're transfer heavy with UNC's Ian Jackson, Arizona State' Joson Sanon, Providence's Bryce Hopkins, and Stanford's Oziyah Sellers as some of their key pieces.
2. Louisville
Pat Kelsey took the Louisville Cardinals to the NCAA tournament in Year One after a lot of work in the portal and after another strong portal haul it looks like he has one of the best backcourts in college basketball. Virginia's Isaac McNeely and Xavier's Ryan Conwell provide punch from the portal and Mikel Brown Jr is one of UofL's best recruits in years, and a couple of key pieces have returned. This looks like one of the ACC's best teams and they could be a top-10 squad preseason.
3. Michigan State
The Spartans look like a top-25 squad but probably not top-10 in the preseason according to the way too early polls that are floating around. The Spartans will be relying heavily on a couple of smaller program transfers in Kaleb Glenn from FAU and Trey Fort from Samford. Big man Jaxon Kohler needs to take a step forward this offseason. This looks like another interesting MSU team and Tom Izzo could get them to the second weekend of the tournament.
4. Gonzaga
Gonzaga loses quite a bit so Mark Few will have to put plenty of new parts together. Graham Ike is a great foundation piece in the middle after averaging 17.3 points per game last year. Braden Huff gives them a nice one-two punch down low but the backcourt is a question. The Zags have a couple of guards who sat out last year but will carry a heavy workload in '25-26.
5. Indiana
IU has to replace several players who averaged double digits last season and they hit the portal big-time. WVU's Tucker DeVries, Sam Houston State's Lamar Wilkerson, Davidson's Reed Bailey and Troy's Tayton Conerway are some of the additions. Expectations will probably be lower for IU than the other teams on this list because of the extent of the overhaul and the new regime.
