Kentucky basketball announced on Friday that the Wildcats will take on the Purdue Boilermakers on October 24th in Rupp Arena for an exhibition matchup. While this game won’t matter for the two teams’, regular season records or NCAA Tournament seeding, this game will show both fan bases and coaching staffs what they have.
John Fanta has the Purdue Boilermakers listed as his number one overall team heading into the 2025-26 season, and the Wildcats are eighth on his list, making this a top ten matchup.
The Boilermakers are led by Braden Smith, who likely will be one of the frontrunners to be the Player of the Year in college basketball. Seeing Smith in an exhibition game will be good for Kentucky because the Wildcats will learn which guards will be able to defend at a high level.
Not only will this game be good for both of these teams on the floor it is going to be very exciting for Kentucky fans as Rupp Arena will be hosting a top five team.
The excitement level in Lexington, Kentucky, for the 2025-26 basketball season is at an all-time high, so fans will be rowdy for this game even though it is an exhibition game.
Hopefully, Coach Pope starts scheduling marquee exhibition games in the future as it helps the team prepare for the season, and the fan base loves it.
This basketball game will prove to the Kentucky fan base just how good this basketball team is going to be in year two under Mark Pope.
