The SEC released its 2012 men's basketball schedule today. The SEC opener is Florida at Tennessee, which will televise on ESPN2 at 11:00 am on Saturday, January 7, 2012. The Wildcats open later that day, at home against South Carolina.
The first half of the schedule lines up easily for Kentucky. Their first two away games are against Auburn and Tennessee, two teams that won't be very good. The Cats draw both Tennessee games in the first half of SEC play, the only opponent to repeat in the first 8 games. Of those 8, the hardest opponent is probably an up-and-coming Alabama team. However, Kentucky gets the good fortune of playing Alabama at home, with a noon start time.
The second half is where things get rough. Both home-and-homes with Vanderbilt and Florida take place in this part of conference play. The first game against Florida is a Super Tuesday tilt at home on February 7. Kentucky has to follow that up by traveling to Vanderbilt on Saturday, February 11. College Gameday will also be making that trip, so expect a loud and raucous crowd. The Wildcats wrap-up the regular season at Florida on March 4, 2012 in a game that could decide the regular season SEC East winner.
8 of Kentucky's games will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2, and 3 more have been picked up by CBS. In addition, one game is on ESPNU. With those 12, Kentucky leads the league in nationally-broadcasted games. Additionally, all ESPN broadcasted games will be on ESPN3.com except for one, the ESPNU game on January 31 against Tennessee.
Kentucky's SEC schedule is posted below:
| Date | Day | Time (ET) | Opponent | TV/Internet |
| Jan 7 | Sat | 4:00 pm | South Carolina | SEC Network/ESPN3.com |
| Jan 11 | Wed | 8:00 pm | @ Auburn | SEC Network/ESPN3.com |
| Jan 14 | Sat | 12:00 pm | @ Tennessee | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
| Jan 17 | Tue | 9:00 pm | Arkansas | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
| Jan 21 | Sat | 12:00 pm | Alabama | CBS |
| Jan 24 | Tue | 9:00 pm | @ Georgia | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
| Jan 28 | Sat | 4:00 pm | @ LSU | SEC Network/ESPN3.com |
| Jan 31 | Tue | 7:00 pm |
Tennessee | ESPNU |
| Feb 4 | Sat | 6:00 pm | @ South Carolina | ESPN or ESPN2/ESPN3.com |
| Feb 7 | Tue | 7:00 pm | Florida | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
| Feb 11 | Sat | 9:00 pm | @ Vanderbilt | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
| Feb 18 | Sat | 4:00 pm | Mississippi | SEC Network/ESPN3.com |
| Feb 21 | Tue | 9:00 pm | @ Mississippi State | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
| Feb 25 | Sat | 12:00 pm | Vanderbilt | CBS |
| Mar 1 | Thu | 9:00 pm | Georgia | ESPN or ESPN2/ESPN3.com |
| Mar 4 | Sun | 12:00 pm | @ Florida | CBS |