Kentucky men’s basketball released its 2027 SEC schedule this week, and from the look of it, there is no reason the Cats shouldn’t jump out to a hot start.

I will start by prefacing that it’s July and there is no telling what lies ahead throughout the rest of the offseason and non-conference play; I can’t predict the future, of course. But from the look of it, UK should open up conference play with a 4-0 record, or at least a 3-1 record — we’ll get to that one potential loss later on down the line.

Following its last non-conference game against Gardner-Webb on Dec. 28, Mark Pope’s squad will head to Norman, Oklahoma, to battle the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Sooners are returning guard Xzayvier Brown, who averaged 15.4 points per game last season, and they brought in Pop Isaacs from Texas A&M; there’s no doubt that those two will be huge for head coach Porter Moser.

However, guard Nijel Pack and forward Tae Davis, two of the team’s three leading point scorers, are gone, and that will certainly throw a dent in the lineup and cause some new chemistry to be engineered.

From guards to forwards to centers, UK overpowers Oklahoma in nearly every position, and moving to the depth, UK has that covered as well.

Starting conference play on the road will be difficult, but I think the Cats will get it done.

Following the matchup against OU, the Cats return to Rupp Arena and host Ole Miss, a team that is not overly talented and one that certainly doesn’t jump out at you on paper.

Head coach Chris Beard will be relying heavily on Seton Hall transfer Budd Clark to motor the offense, and while he played an efficient role for the Pirates, he stands at just 5-foot-10. This is the SEC, and the Big East is not the Big East that it once was in terms of physicality, and I think UK will be able to lock him up.

If UK’s guards manage to lock up Clark, the ball will be forced to Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins, two returners who averaged 11.3 points and 9.3 points per game.

Aside from that, the Rebels’ depth doesn’t run deep.

UK then goes to Missouri, and it could run into some trouble there.

The Tigers do have some strong transfers coming in, players like Jamier Jones (Providence), Bryson Tiller (Kansas) and Jaylen Carey (Tennessee), while also adding five-star freshman Jason Crowe Jr.

Dennis Gates’ squad looks strong on paper, but at this point, UK could have some momentum, and it could run with the Tigers in terms of depth.

This game could be a toss-up; either the Cats go 3-0 or 2-1, I’ll let you pick that.

UK then hosts LSU at Rupp Arena, a team that currently has just four confirmed players listed on its roster, one of them being former Cat Mo Dioubate.

It’s hard to give a scouting report on LSU considering their bite-sized roster, but that speaks volumes in itself; as the summer winds down, they are behind in terms of chemistry building and overall practice intensity.

The Tigers are now led by former NC State head coach Will Wade, a strong leader with an all-time winning percentage of .691%. Wade is a mastermind and has won back-to-back Southland Conference Coach of the Year Awards with McNeese State in 2024 and 2025; however, his time at LSU is going to take a couple years to takeoff if I had to take a guess.

Given the current state of LSU, this game is almost a guaranteed win.

Following these four games, UK’s SEC schedule is as follows: Vanderbilt, at Mississippi State, Tennessee, at Texas, at Ole Miss, Alabama, South Carolina, at Tennessee, at Georgia, Arkansas, at Vanderbilt, Auburn, Texas A&M, at Florida.

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