The Kentucky Wildcats have scheduled a fourth non-conference opponent for next season, which points towards the SEC remaining at eight conference football games in 2026. The league had been discussing a nine-game schedule similar to the Big Ten and Big 12, but that shift appears to be on hold.
According to a copy of the contract obtained by FBSchedules.com, the Kentucky Wildcats will host the Kent State Golden Flashes at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. The Wildcats will pay the Golden Flashes a $1.6 million guarantee for the game, per the contract copy.
The Wildcats and Golden Flashes are also scheduled to meet at Kroger Field during the 2028 season on Sept. 9, which we previously reported in January 2023. Kent State will receive a $1.8 million guarantee from Kentucky for that contest.
Kentucky and Kent State first met on the gridiron in 1984 and have played seven contests overall, which all resulted in victories for the Wildcats. In their most recent matchup in 2012, Kentucky won 47-14 in Lexington.
The closest margin of victory in the series came in 1991 in Lexington when the Wildcats defeated the Golden Flashes by a score of 24-6. The largest margin of victory is 42, which occurred in a 42-0 shutout in their first-ever meeting.
With the addition of Kent State, Kentucky now has four non-conference opponents scheduled for the 2026 season, and all four are home tilts. The Wildcats are slated to open the season at home against the Youngstown State Penguins on Sept. 5. Later in the season, the Wildcats will entertain the South Alabama Jaguars on Sept. 26 and the in-state rival Louisville Cardinals on Nov. 28.
The Kentucky Wildcats are the second scheduled non-conference opponent for Kent State for the 2026 season. Following the trip to Lexington, Kent State will visit the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sept. 19.
Football Schedules
So UK doesn’t expect a 9 game SEC schedule? Welp, time to schedule a crap ton of FCS opponents for the rest of the SEC.
Only four SEC teams don’t have an FCS opponent for 2026 scheduled:
Alabama
Auburn
Oklahoma
Texas
And Texas isn’t going to schedule one.
But what about a 4th non-con? Who they gonna go to? The new Pac-12 schools?
There are a lot of openings for 2026, too many to research right now. It will start to fill in over the next few weeks.
It has not been since 1990 that Kentucky played a P4 OOC opponent other than Indiana or Louisville in the regular season. It’s high time that drought come to an end. Games against other schools known for their basketball prowess like Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina would especially be lucrative.
Hang in there Z-Man.
Should a 13th regular season game be added I want to see all power four conferences go to a nine-game conference schedule & four-game OOC schedule two of them with power four teams & other G6 & FCS teams.
There is no talk of adding a 13th game in the FBS.
Dan give it up
I am still excellent with current 12 game schedule Kevin.
Good news Illininoles97 Dan did give it up.
I am more focused on conference games than adding a extra regular season game.
Typical! Another SEC team with 8 home games on the season. Afraid to schedule a true road game against an FBS opponent.
Yes, the bottom half of the conference schedules this way most of the time.
Arkansas is bottom half and they have played or scheduled:
2013 @ Rutgers (last year in AAC)
2014 @ Texas Tech
2016 @ TCU
2018 @ Colorado State (G5 team that replaced Michigan series that Michigan canceled to play ND)
2020 @ Notre Dame (rescheduled for 2028)
2022 @ BYU (technically independent then)
2024 @ Oklahoma State
2025 @ Memphis (G5)
2026 @ Utah
2027 @ Tulsa (G5)
2028 @ Notre Dame
2030 @ Texas Tech
2032 @ Oklahoma State
As someone who went to an FCS school, I don’t mind SEC schools scheduling FCS opponents. However, you can’t call yourself the “best conference” when you only play half of the other teams, and sometimes go years without playing some of the other schools. If the SEC had 9 conference games, they could still have a non-conference slate of: 1 FCS, 1 G5, 1 P5. With 9 conference games, you could have 3 annual opponents, play 6 in even years, and the remaining 6 in odd years.
That is an option they are exploring. Will they take it? Who knows. The SEC will do whatever it takes to market their teams for maximum opportunity for the media to incessantly fawn over them.
Your proposal is excellent Evan.