Breaking down Kentucky's SEC schedule in 2026

The Southeastern Conference unveiled the 2026 league baseball schedule on Tuesday afternoon. Kentucky's SEC opening series and closing series are both at Kentucky Proud Park, beginning against Alabama on March 13 – 15 and closing with Arkansas on May 14 – 16. Here's the complete SEC schedule:

• March 13 – 15: Alabama
• March 20 – 22: at Ole Miss
• March 27 – 29: at LSU
• April 3 – 5: Missouri
• April 10 – 12: at Auburn
• April 17 – 19: Vanderbilt
• April 24 – 26: at South Carolina
• May 1 – 3: Tennessee
• May 8 – 10: at Florida
• May 14 – 16: Arkansas

Another daunting schedule awaits

Every team in the SEC knows it will have a challenging schedule once league play begins. Kentucky plays eight SEC teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025, four that advanced to the Super Regional and two that made the College World Series, including the defending national champion LSU.

Several of these programs – LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt – have either won national titles in recent seasons or entered the postseason as the No. 1 overall seed. Many of the teams in the league will once again have realistic expectations to compete for Omaha.

College baseball publications around the country will release final preseason polls a few weeks before the season begins, but using Baseball America's 'way too early' top 25 rankings from late July, the Wildcats will see No. 2 (LSU), No. 5 (Auburn), No. 7 (Tennessee), No. 11 (Arkansas), No. 15 (Vanderbilt), No. 19 (Alabama), No. 21 (Florida) and No. 24 (Ole Miss). They do avoid three of the top six teams nationally, according to Baseball America – Texas, Mississippi State and Georgia – but it still looks to be a tough path to navigate this spring.

No return trips to Oklahoma, Texas

Kentucky hosted SEC newcomers Oklahoma and Texas at Kentucky Proud Park last year. The Wildcats swept Oklahoma late in the season and lost a tight series to the Longhorns two games to one earlier in the year. But fans who were thinking about making a return trip will have to wait at least one more year since neither team showed up on this year's schedule.

Texas will enter the season as a popular College World Series pick. The Longhorns – one of college baseball's most storied programs – have not been to Omaha since 2022 and have not won a national championship since 2005. Jim Schlossnagle was hired away from rival Texas A&M following the 2024 season to end the national championship drought.

Closing thoughts

• This schedule is another reminder of how fun it is to follow SEC baseball. Based on the past few years, the series against Missouri is the only one that would feel like a breather. South Carolina hasn't been a consistent challenger at the national level for over a decade and will likely be projected as the lowest-ranked team on Kentucky's SEC schedule outside of Missouri, but the Wildcats have not won a series in Columbia since 2017.
• I think this home slate is much better for fans. Last year's home schedule wasn't bad but the weather was rough in the spring and it lacked any big name opponents or rivals later in the season. This year, Kentucky gets Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Arkansas either in mid-April or later. These will all be huge series that should bring great crowds to the ballpark.
• It will be important to get off to a good start against Alabama with road series at Ole Miss and LSU coming up right after. Those are two great college baseball venues that make it tough on opponents. The Wildcats should be positioned well if they can protect home field against Alabama and then find a way to win at least one of the series on the road.
• The remaining schedule will be released at a later date. There likely won't be any premier opponents in the non-conference portion, but it will be similar to recent years where the intended effect will help the Wildcats' RPI later in the year.