In Mark Pope’s first season as Kentucky head coach, it looks like the Wildcats will host in-state foe Western Kentucky as part of their 2024-25 non-conference schedule.
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports first reported news of a potential UK vs. WKU matchup Saturday morning, which would be the first matchup between the teams since they met in the 2021-22 season as part of a make-up game after both teams had schedule openings due to COVID cancellations.
Here was Norlander’s tweet revealing the news: “News: Kentucky is finishing a deal to host Western Kentucky at Rupp Arena next season, per sources.”
He added that the new Kentucky staff wanted to play against another team in the state, and it appears that opponent will be Western:
“It’s notable because the schools have only met seven times ever. Mark Pope + UK officials want to have at least one intra-Kentucky matchup for the fans in Pope’s first season.”
Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky will not be a standalone game, though, and Norlander said in a second tweet that the matchup will be part of a multi-team event hosted in Rupp Arena.
“Kentucky’s game vs. Western Kentucky will be part of a three-game MTE, sources said, with the dates still not set. All three games at Rupp Arena are expected to be vs. mid-majors, with one of the others likely to be vs. an HBCU program.”
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