UK to open season vs. New Mexico State; will face Illinois State in December

Now that August is here, it won’t be long until the 2023-24 Kentucky Basketball schedule is announced.

In the meantime, we have word of who Kentucky will tip off against next season.

According to college hoops reporter Rocco Miller, the Wildcats will face the New Mexico State Aggies on November 6th.

Hailing from the Western Athletic Conference, New Mexico State has consistently been one of, if not the best team, out of that conference. The Aggies have made the NCAA Tournament eight times since 2012. They recently enjoyed a great five-year run under Chris Jans, who is now the head coach at Mississippi State.

However, the Aggies endured a major hazing scandal this past year under first-year head coach Greg Heiar. That led to the program suspending operations on February 10th and finishing the season 9-15. Heiar was let go and replaced by Sam Houston State head coach Jason Hooten.

In addition, we got another confirmed game thanks to Illinois State’s schedule release revealing they’ll play at Kentucky on December 29th.

Illinois State is where current Wildcats star Antonio Reeves played for three seasons before transferring to Kentucky.

From the Missouri Valley Conference, the Redbirds are coming off an 11-21 season under first-year head coach Ryan Pedon, formerly an Ohio State assistant from 2017-22. The program hasn’t earned an NCAA Tournament berth since 1998 and hasn’t made the NIT since the 2016-17 season when they won the regular-season MVC championship.

In the last 24 hours, we’ve gotten confirmed dates for Kentucky’s matchups at Louisville, vs. New Mexico State, and vs. Illinois State. Safe to think the full non-conference schedule will be out sooner rather than later.