LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Southeastern Conference season in men’s basketball will begin on Dec. 29-30, the league announced Friday.
The SEC schedule will be made up of 18 games. Ten league schools will also play in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in late January.
The league schedule, which was originally set to start Jan. 2, was not released.
SEC spokesman Craig Pinkerton said the league decided on an earlier start “to create an open date late in the season for possible makeup games.”
The 2020-21 SEC women’s basketball conference schedule remains at 18 play dates that will fit a 16-game league schedule, starting on Dec. 31.
Earlier this month, the NCAA Division I Council approved a Nov. 25 start date for the 2020-21 men’s and women’s college basketball seasons. That’s when the SEC will begin non-conference play. Teams can begin preseason practice on Oct. 14 and will have a 42-day window to conduct no more than 30 practices.
Earlier this week, coach John Calipari said that Kentucky planned to begin the season with a “bubble” event in Lexington. Detroit Mercy coach Mike Davis said his team planned to be part of the “bubble,” which would be comprised of four teams playing a round-robin schedule consisting of three doubleheaders.
UK’s full non-conference schedule — including its annual rivalry game with Louisville — has not yet been revealed.
During an appearance on a podcast for Pure Hoops Media, Louisville coach Chris Mack questioned the fairness of U of L playing host to Kentucky in a likely sparely attended game in the Yum Center this coming season while having to play before a likely full house in Rupp Arena in 2021-22. He also said Cincinnati faced a similar dilemma with a home game against Louisville this season and then playing at U of L in 2021-22.
Mack suggested UK-U of L be played at a neutral site this coming season. Calipari said he had spoken to Mack.
“While I understand the difficulty and the complications created by the pandemic, we are prepared to come to Louisville to play this season under the previously agreed upon terms,” the UK coach said in a statement, “and we fully expect Louisville to honor the agreement with a return game to Rupp Arena next season.”
Calipari pointed out that UK faces a similar situation this season with home games against Notre Dame and an opponent in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
“It is no one’s fault we are in a pandemic,” Calipari said.
Kentucky is also planning to play Kansas in the Champions Classic in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 1, Calipari said this week. The UK coach also said non-conference games against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech are planned. With a tentative “I believe,” Calipari also said UK would play UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic, a game that was originally scheduled for Dec. 19.
Other games previously announced are against Cleveland State (Nov. 30) and Georgia State (Nov. 20). No announcement has been made about when — or if — those games will be played.
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