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The 10 most anticipated non-conference games of the 2025-26 college basketball season

This is ONLY September!

And that means that it’s never too early to start looking ahead.

Check out our list below for the 10 most anticipated non-conference games of the 2025-26 season.

1. St. John’s/Kentucky (Dec. 20th, Atlanta)
This season’s CBS Sports Classic is extra spicy thanks to this matchup between Rick Pitino and his old program. The Red Storm are entering their most anticipated season in years while the Wildcats are again expected to be a major player nationally under Mark Pope, who was Pitino’s captain in 1996 when Kentucky won the national title.

2. UConn/Florida (Dec. 9th, MSG)
The last two national champions will go head-to-head in the showcase game of this season’s Jimmy V Classic. This matchup is also a rematch from the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, which the Gators won 77-75 en route to the program’s third national title and first under Todd Golden. 

3. Florida at Duke (Dec. 2nd)
The Gators’ loaded non-conference schedule also features a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. Both of these programs were part of the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio. 

4. UConn at Kansas (Dec. 2nd)
Two blue blood programs in a traditional home-and-home series? Sounds delicious. The Huskies nearly beat the Jayhawks two years ago at Allen Fieldhouse prior to winning their second straight national title under Dan Hurley in 2024. Hurley and Self have combined to win three of the last four national titles. 

5. Kentucky at Louisville (Nov. 11th)
This annual rivalry game should be the best that it’s been in years thanks to two rosters that are currently ranked in the Top 14 of the ROTHSTEIN 45. This matchup will also be the first power conference game in the career of Cards freshman point guard Mikel Brown. Remember the name. 

6. UConn/BYU (Nov. 15th, Boston)
A homecoming game for Cougars freshman AJ Dybantsa is also going to come with a raucous pro-Huskies at TD Garden. This venue is the same place where UConn famously went on a 30-0 run against Illinois in the second half of the 2024 Elite Eight. It will say a lot about BYU’s long-term potential if the Cougars can be competitive in this type of environment. 

7. Duke/Michigan (Feb. 21st, Washington D.C.)
Two Final Four contenders square off in a mid-February non-conference game at Capital One Arena. The Wolverines may have the sport’s deepest frontline with Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Morez Johnson (Illinois), Aday Mara (UCLA), and sturdy veteran Will Tschetter. 

8. Arkansas/Duke (Thanksgiving Night, Chicago)
A primetime game on CBS on Thanksgiving between two Final Four contenders?! Let’s hope that most of America lays off the tryptophan. This showdown at the United Center will be extra special for Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer, who grew up in nearby Northbrook, Illinois. 

9. North Carolina at Kentucky (Dec. 2nd)
It’s been 10 years since these two historic programs played each other in a campus setting, but that will change in early December at Rupp Arena. The last six meetings between these two blue bloods have come at neutral site venues, highlighted by a matchup in the 2017 Elite Eight, which was won by the Tar Heels in Memphis. 

10. Duke at Michigan State (Dec. 6th)
This game is a return tilt from when the Champions Classic was played at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2020 due to COVID. The Blue Devils haven’t faced the Spartans in East Lansing since 2019. 

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