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Kentucky women’s basketball opponents revealed for Music City Classic

caroline makauskas
·4 min read

Kentucky women’s basketball will be home in time for Thanksgiving this year.

The Wildcats are set to play Power Four opponents Arizona State (Nov. 26) and Illinois (Nov. 27) in Nashville as part of the inaugural Music City Classic, foes previously unnamed on UK’s 2024-25 schedule.

The Herald-Leader obtained a copy of UK’s contract with tournament host Coast 2 Coast WBB through an open records request.

Other teams expected to be present at the Music City Classic include Dayton, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and South Dakota. The event will take place at Trevecca Nazarene University, a Division II school in Nashville.

Coast 2 Coast has not officially announced the matchups because they remain subject to change until all the invited schools have committed.

Arizona State endured a difficult campaign last season, assembling an 11-20 record (3-15 Pac-12) before a first-round exit in the final Pac-12 Tournament. The Sun Devils are now in the Big 12. The Fighting Illini finished last season 19-15 (8-10 Big Ten) and reached the championship of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament before falling 71-57 to Villanova.

The Music City Classic means a return to the contiguous United States for the Wildcats’ Thanksgiving week tournament. UK has spent the past two seasons playing in the U.S. Virgin Islands (2023 Paradise Jam) and the Bahamas (2022 Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship). Thanksgiving is Nov. 28 this year.

Arizona State and Illinois joining the schedule brings the Wildcats’ nonconference opponent total to 12, and their non-league Power Four foes to five; UK will host archrival Louisville on Nov. 16, travel to North Carolina to face the Tar Heels in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 5 and face Purdue on the road on Dec. 14 in the first installment of a home-and-home.

First-year Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks told the Herald-Leader that, despite the fact that he didn’t have the time he’d have liked to build his first Kentucky nonconference slate, he believes UK has “a schedule that’s going to challenge us.”

“Obviously, with the SEC/ACC Challenge,” Brooks said. “Playing a familiar foe in North Carolina, big game. It’s crazy the way that college athletics is set up now because Louisville might as well be in my conference because we play them once a year, just like we play everybody else once a year. Can’t get away from (Louisville head coach) Jeff Walz. So we have those two opponents. Purdue was already on the schedule. And then it was just really trying to find games that were going to make sense to us. ... We just really needed to get as much as we could to make sense to us. And so (the nonconference schedule) it’s not all like I would like it, but we did a really good job of finding the games, putting it together.”

This year’s Big Blue Madness is scheduled for Oct. 11, with the Blue-White exhibition to follow on Oct. 18. The Wildcats will officially open their 2024-25 season at home against USC Upstate on Nov. 4.

Some Wildcats spent their summer on Kentucky’s campus, while others were late arrivals after competing in international competitions. All were in place in Lexington for the first day of college classes. Front row: Saniah Tyler, Dazia Lawrence, Jordan Obi, Teonni Key, Lexi Blue, Clara Silva, Cassidy Rowe, Dominika Paurova. Second row: Clara Strack, Amelia Hassett, Tanah Becker, Gabby Brooks, Georgia Amoore.

2024-25 UK women’s basketball schedule

Kentucky’s full 2024-25 schedule has been set. Times and TV assignments for all games will be announced later. Home games listed in all capital letters.

Oct. 11: BIG BLUE MADNESS

Oct. 18: 1-BLUE-WHITE GAME

Nov. 4: SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE

Nov. 7: NORTHERN KENTUCKY

Nov. 12: WOFFORD

Nov. 16: LOUISVILLE

Nov. 18: PURDUE FORT WAYNE

Nov. 26: 2-Arizona State

Nov. 27: 2-Illinois

Dec. 5: 3-At North Carolina

Dec. 9: QUEENS

Dec. 14: At Purdue

Dec. 20: BELMONT

Dec. 28: WESTERN KENTUCKY

Jan. 2: MISSISSIPPI STATE

Jan. 5: At Vanderbilt

Jan. 9: At Florida

Jan. 12: AUBURN

Jan. 19: At Georgia

Jan. 23: At Texas A&M

Jan. 26: ARKANSAS

Jan. 30: ALABAMA

Feb. 2: At Oklahoma

Feb. 10: At Mississippi

Feb. 13: TEXAS

Feb. 16: GEORGIA

Feb. 20: At Missouri

Feb. 23: LSU

Feb. 27: TENNESSEE

March 2: At South Carolina

March 5-9: 4-SEC Tournament

1-Memorial Coliseum; 2-Music City Classic in Nashville, Tennessee; 3-ACC/SEC Challenge; 4-At Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

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