July 24, 1998
Kansas, Maryland and Duke highlight what will be one of the strongest basketball schedules in Kentucky basketball history when the Wildcats set out to defend their national championship this November. The 30-game schedule was released Friday by University of Kentucky athletics director C.M. Newton.
After two exhibition games in early November, UK will play host to Eastern Kentucky in its season opener on Nov. 17. The game equals the second earliest start in school history. UK’s earliest season opener was Nov. 15, 1996 against Clemson. In 1979, the Cats opened play against Duke on Nov. 17 in the Tip-Off Classic. Kentucky has not played EKU since 1993. The Wildcats will follow up with a game against Mercer two days later. UK hasn’t played the Atlanta school since 1922. The defending champs will then travel to The Crown in Cincinnati to face Wright State on Nov. 23, part of the contract that showcases the Wildcats in the Queen City every other season. Coach Tubby Smith’s squad then begins a stretch of 10 games that could feature eight teams that played in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
“When you’re national champions, you have to play a championship-caliber schedule,” Newton said. “This schedule should prepare us to defend our title in March.”
The Cats begin the stretch in the Puerto Rico Shootout that begins Thanksgiving Day in Bayamone, P.R. The eight-team tournament field includes Colorado, Xavier, Pittsburgh, UCLA and Maryland. The tournament pairings will be released later in the summer.
UK returns from the Caribbean to face Kansas in Chicago on Dec. 1 in the Great Eight. The Jayhawks were a No. 1 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament and the contest will be the first between UK and KU since the home-and-home series was ended in December 1990.
Following the Great Eight, UK returns home to face Miami (Fla.). The game will mark the return of former UK assistant Leonard Hamilton, who now coaches the Hurricanes. Hamilton served under both Joe B. Hall and Eddie Sutton from 1975-86.
The Wildcats then meet Indiana at Freedom Hall in Louisville before a matchup in Rupp Arena against Maryland. The game could be the second meeting between the Cats and Terrapins in two weeks, depending on the bracket and results of the Puerto Rico Shootout.
After a week off for final exams, UK is back in action in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome on Dec. 19 against Georgia Tech in the Delta Airlines Classic for Kids. The first game of the double-header matches Georgia and Fresno State. The Cats will then travel to the Jimmy V Classic in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. to face Duke on Dec. 22. The game will be a rematch of UK’s stunning 17-point comeback against the Blue Devils to win 86-84 in the South Region Championship last March in St. Petersburg, Fla., a victory that earned the Wildcats a third consecutive trip to the Final Four. South Carolina will face Purdue in the first game of the Classic’s doubleheader.
UK completes the grueling stretch the day after Christmas against Louisville in Freedom Hall. Tennessee State travels to Lexington to close out the pre-conference slate on Dec. 29.
“This is one of the toughest schedules in the history of Kentucky basketball,” Coach Smith said. “We could play 13 games against teams in last season’s NCAA Tournament, including top seeds Kansas and Duke. With the loss of three starters and Cameron Mills, this schedule presents one of the most formidable challenges in all my years of coaching.
“And that’s just our non-conference schedule. The SEC is going to be more competitive than last year.”
A home game with Florida tips off Southeastern Conference play. The league schedule includes road games against Ole Miss on Jan. 16 and Arkansas on Feb. 20. The Wildcats’ Senior Night opponent will be Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m., before Kentucky concludes the regular season at Tennessee on Feb. 28.
Other highlights of the season include:
– Possibly 16 games on either CBS, ESPN or ABC. The organizers of the Puerto Rico Shootout are negotiating with ESPN to broadcast the semifinals and the finals of Thanksgiving tournament;
– Every game televised live or delayed either statewide, regionally or nationally;
– Five games that will start at 9 p.m. ET or later;
– No non-conference games after the start of SEC play.
– A rare Thursday night contest at Florida (Feb. 4) that will be shown on ESPN at 7:30 p.m.;
– The Great Eight lineup features Connecticut vs. Washington and Kansas vs. UK on Dec. 1 and Rhode Island vs. Utah followed by Duke vs. Michigan State on Dec. 2;
– Kentucky will play Georgia Tech in the Georgia Dome in December before returning to Atlanta for the SEC Tournament in March. The Wildcats are 9-0 all-time in the Georgia Dome after winning five games there last season, including the SEC Tournament crown.
The complete schedule follows:
1998-99 KENTUCKY MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Date Opponent (TV) TimeNov. 3 (Tues.) CALIFORNIA ALL-STARS (UKTV Delay) 7:30 p.m.Nov. 11 (Wed.) CROATIAN NATIONAL TEAM (UKTV Live) 8 p.m.Nov. 17 (Tues.) EASTERN KENTUCKY (UKTV Live) 8 p.m.Nov. 19 (Thurs.) MERCER (UKTV Live) 8 p.m.Nov. 23 (Mon.) vs. Wright State at Cincinnati (UKTV Live) 8 p.m.Nov. 26-28(Thurs.-Sat.) at Puerto Rico Shootout (N1) TBA Kentucky, Colorado, Xavier, Pittsburgh, UCLA, San Francisco,Maryland, American-Puerto RicoDec. 1 (Tues.) vs. Kansas at Great Eight (ESPN) (N2) 9:30 p.m.Dec. 5 (Sat.) MIAMI, Fla. (CBS) 3:45 p.m.Dec. 8 (Tues.) vs. Indiana at Louisville (ESPN) 7:30 p.m.Dec. 12 (Sat.) MARYLAND (ESPN) 8:30 p.m.Dec. 19 (Sat.) vs. Georgia Tech at Delta Airlines Classic (ESPN) (N3) 7:30 p.m.Dec. 22 (Tues.) vs. Duke at Jimmy V Classic (ESPN) (N4) 9 p.m.Dec. 26 (Sat.) at Louisville (CBS) 1 p.m.Dec. 29 (Tues.) TENNESSEE STATE (UKTV Live) 8 p.m.
Jan. 2 (Sat.) FLORIDA (JP) 4 p.m. Jan. 5 (Tues.) at South Carolina (ESPN) 9:30 p.m.Jan. 9 (Sat.) at Vanderbilt (FSS) 6:30 p.m.Jan. 12 (Tues.) TENNESSEE (ESPN) 9:30 p.m.Jan. 16 (Sat.) at Ole Miss (ABC) 3 p.m.Jan. 20 (Wed.) AUBURN (JP) 8 p.m. Jan. 23 (Sat.) MISSISSIPPI STATE (UKTV Delay) 1 p.m.Jan. 26 (Tues.) at Georgia (ESPN) 9:30 p.m.Jan. 30 (Sat.) LSU (JP) 3 p.m.
Feb. 4 (Thurs.) at Florida (ESPN) 7:30 p.m.Feb. 6 (Sat.) at Alabama (JP) 3 p.m.Feb. 13 (Sat.) SOUTH CAROLINA (JP) 4 p.m.Feb. 17 (Wed.) GEORGIA (JP) 8 p.m.Feb. 20 (Sat.) at Arkansas (CBS) 1 p.m.Feb. 24 (Wed.) VANDERBILT (JP) 8 p.m.Feb. 28 (Sun.) at Tennessee (CBS) Noon
March 4-7(Thurs.-Sun.) at Southeastern Conference Tournament (N3) TBA
N1 – Bayamone, Puerto RicoN2 – Chicago (United Center)N3 – Atlanta (Georgia Dome)N4 – East Rutherford, N.J. (Meadowlands) FSS – Fox Sports SouthJP – Jefferson-Pilot Sports (SEC TV)All times Eastern and subject to change
