For all the slack Kentucky received for its non-conference schedule (and the backlash I received from a certain ESPN.com blogger for writing about it), it turns out it’s not such a bad non-conference slate after all.

In fact, it’s pretty darn good if you ask Luke Winn of SI.com.

Winn rated Kentucky’s non-conference schedule the second toughest among all schools in Division I basketball. The Sports Illustrated writer lists only Georgetown as having a tough non-conference schedule than UK.

Among the marquee games on UK’s schedule this year are road dates with Portland, Louisville and North Carolina, a neutral-site game with Notre Dame and the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Read who Winn thinks have the nation’s top 10 toughest non-conference schedules.