John Calipari, Arkansas facing Kentucky leads rankings of 2024-25 SEC basketball schedule's top games

Calipari's return to Kentucky and the addition of Texas and Oklahoma give the SEC some intriguing matchups this season

By Cameron Salerno Aug 20, 2024 at 4:31 pm ET• 8 min read

The SEC released dates for the full conference schedule on Tuesday, pinpointing when the potential game of the year in college basketball during the 2024-25 season will take place. John Calipari's new-look Arkansas squad will travel to Rupp Arena to face Kentucky on Feb. 1 in the lone scheduled matchup between the Razorbacks and the Wildcats, Calipari's former school.

Each SEC team will plays the other 15 teams in the conference at least once and will face three teams a second time in a "home-and-home" series. Two of those three teams will be play twice each season as permanent opponents with the other team changing every year.

The three teams Kentucky will play twice this season are Alabama, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The three teams Arkansas will play twice are LSU, Missouri and Texas.

Arkansas and Kentucky will feature rosters that will look drastically different from the previous season. Since Calipari's arrival in Arkansas, he's helped land five former Kentucky pledges (Karter Knox, Zvonimir Ivišić, Boogie Fland, Adou Theiro, and Billy Richmond) to pair with former Tennessee big man Jonas Aidoo and FAU star guard Johnell Davis.