RPM Prediction: Jasper Johnson to Kentucky

The University of Kentucky men’s basketball schedule for the 2024-25 season is official.

The SEC filled in blanks on Mark Pope’s first slate as the Wildcats’ head coach Tuesday, announcing dates for all 18 games that UK will play within the conference this season.

Of course, with that announcement came confirmation of when longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari will make his return to Rupp Arena — this time on the bench opposite from the one he patrolled for the past 15 years.

The date for that matchup — Kentucky vs. Arkansas in Lexington — will be Feb. 1, and it’s one that will surely draw loads of national attention. Both coaches have been asked questions about what they expect from the game during their offseason media rounds this summer, and at least one Las Vegas sportsbook had early betting odds on the clash before the date was even announced. (UK was set as the favorite.)

Calipari took the Razorbacks’ head coaching job in April after 15 seasons with the Wildcats, and Pope was hired as his replacement later that week.

Arkansas is far from the only marquee game on the Cats’ conference schedule.

The SEC could be the best league in all of college basketball this season, with ESPN’s latest “Way-Too-Early” rankings placing a whopping nine teams in the preseason Top 25. The Big 12 has six teams in those rankings, and no other conference has more than four.

Topping the SEC preseason lists is Alabama, which is coming off its first Final Four trip in program history and is ranked No. 2 nationally by both ESPN and CBS Sports heading into this season.

Kentucky must face the Crimson Tide twice this season: Jan. 18 in Lexington, and Feb. 22 in Tuscaloosa. Since Nate Oats became head coach of that program five years ago, Alabama has tied UK for the most wins in the SEC with 62 league victories.