John Calipari’s first season as coach at Arkansas will include a trip to Rupp Arena on Feb. 1.

The Southeastern Conference unveiled dates for the upcoming season and Kentucky coach Mark Pope’s first conference game as coach of the Wildcats will be against Florida on Jan. 4 at Rupp Arena.

Overall, the Wildcats will play nine home games and nine away games as part of the team’s 18-game conference schedule. Dates for those contests were released on Tuesday by the league office, while times have yet been confirmed.

Kentucky’s Saturday games have been assigned – and it includes the battle with Arkansas – while the midweek Tuesday-Wednesday games have yet to be scheduled by league officials.

The Wildcats play their first league game at Georgia on Jan. 7 or 8, the first of two straight road games. Kentucky will play at Texas on Feb. 15 and Oklahoma on Feb. 25 or 26. Kentucky will play home and home contests against Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

 

Non-conference glance

 

The Wildcats will have their Big Blue Madness event on Friday, Oct. 11, at Rupp Arena. It will be the first madness event for Pope.

The team’s annual Blue-White game will be played at Historic Memorial Coliseum the following week on Oct. 18, before the Wildcats play exhibition games against Kentucky Wesleyan (Oct. 23) and Minnesota State on Oct. 23.

Pope will make his debut against Wright State on Nov. 4, followed by Bucknell on Nov. 9. Kentucky will face off against Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic on. Nov. 12 in Atlanta.

The Wildcats will then play four straight home games, including three in a row against Lipscomb (Nov. 19), Jackson State (Nov. 22) and Western Kentucky (Nov. 26) in the BBN Invitational. Pope’s squad closes out the homestand against Georgia State on Nov. 29.

Kentucky plays at Clemson in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Dec. 3, before a Dec. 7 contest against Gonzaga on. Dec. 7 in Seattle. Kentucky plays Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 21 at Madison Square Garden. Home games to conclude the non-conference slate are against Colgate (Dec. 11), Louisville (Dec. 14) and Brown on New Year’s Eve.