It's official: Kentucky vs. St. John's is on the schedule for the 2025-26 season

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mark Pope versus Rick Pitino is officially on the 2025-26 college basketball schedule.

But this matchup between student and teacher won’t be happening in Rupp Arena, as was originally hoped. Instead, Kentucky will meet St. John’s at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Dec. 20 as part of the revamped CBS Sports Classic, which will undergo a team change for 2025.

The Wildcats were originally scheduled to play UCLA in this year’s event, but with the Bruins now in the Big Ten — and sharing a conference with fellow CBS Sports Classic participant Ohio State — organizers have shaken up the rotation, adding reigning Big East champion St. John’s to the mix as UCLA’s replacement.

Ohio State will play ACC blue-blood North Carolina in the other game on Dec. 20. Both games will air on CBS and be streamed live on Paramount Plus. Tip times will be announced at a later date, and UK-St. John’s will be game two of the doubleheader.

Tickets will go on sale in August, and fans can register for more information about the event, including ticket presale opportunities, at cbssportsclassic.com/tickets.

CBS Sports Classic organizers confirmed the new matchups Thursday afternoon, and the reveal was accompanied by a joint statement from Pope and Pitino in the form of a FaceTime call that was posted to social media.

“I can’t wait, Coach,” Pope said at the end of that message. “I love you so much, man. Let’s go make this happen.”

“Love you, Mark. Let’s go,” Pitino responded. “It’s so exciting for both programs, and I look forward to a great Christmas.”

Pitino, of course, was the head coach of the Wildcats from 1989-97 before taking over the Boston Celtics. During his time in Lexington, the Hall of Fame coach quickly rebuilt UK’s storied program from the depths of probation, leading the Cats to the Final Four in 1993 and then the national championship in 1996, the school’s first title in 18 years.

Kentucky was the national runner-up in 1997, and Pitino left after that for the NBA.

After his stint with the Celtics didn’t go as planned, he ended up back in college basketball as the head coach of UK’s archival, the Louisville Cardinals, and he quickly turned into enemy No. 1 in the eyes of a large portion of the Wildcats’ fan base.

Ultimately, Pitino spent 16 years in charge of the Cards — twice as long as his time in Lexington — and played the role of top villain for much of John Calipari’s tenure as Kentucky’s coach before being ousted by U of L officials in 2017 in the wake of a corruption scandal that upended college basketball.

Pitino resurfaced at Iona in 2020 and took over the St. John’s program in 2023.

When Calipari left UK for Arkansas last spring and Pope was hired as the Wildcats’ new coach, Pitino was one of the first major basketball figures to praise the move, releasing a video in support of his former player and granting interview requests to predict great things ahead for the Pope era of Kentucky basketball.

Last October, the former UK head coach was a surprise guest at Big Blue Madness, and — after being seen as the Wildcats’ archenemy for the better part of 25 years — Pitino received a thunderous ovation from the Rupp Arena crowd.

“I am so happy to be back,” Pitino told the UK fans that night. “... This is one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time, because I visit all my players. I visit the fans that made me happy for every single day for eight years.

“And now we get to root for a gentleman that — there have been a lot of great coaches here, a lot of great ones — but we get to root for someone that that name Kentucky is what he’s all about. It’s not about Pope. You’ll never hear him say it. The most selfless, humble young man I’ve ever coached in my lifetime. One of the great, great examples of what Kentucky basketball is all about. Mark Pope is going to lead you to greatness, in every sense of the word.”

Pope, who has publicly praised Pitino several times since taking the UK job last April, said on multiple occasions that he hoped to be able to schedule St. John’s for a game in Rupp Arena during the 2025-26 season, an opportunity to bring his former coach back to Lexington for the 30th anniversary of the 1996 championship team.

The game won’t take place in Lexington, but it is now officially on the 2025-26 schedule.

Kentucky vs. St. John’s

The matchup between the Wildcats and the Red Storm is shaping up as a good one, and both teams will be coming off successful 2024-25 campaigns.

In his first season at Kentucky — and after being forced to build a roster completely from scratch in a matter of weeks — Pope managed to lead his Cats to a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, with UK advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years.

Pitino, in his second season at St. John’s, led the program to its first outright Big East title in 40 years. The Red Storm also won their first league tournament title and first NCAA Tournament game since 2000, before being upset by Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks in the second round.

Both teams are highly regarded in the early 2025-26 rankings.

The most recent Top 25 list from CBS Sports has St. John’s as the No. 2 team in the country for next season — behind only top-ranked Houston — with Kentucky at No. 11 nationally.

Reigning Big East player of the year RJ Luis is in the transfer portal as he goes through the NBA draft process, but Pitino will be returning second-leading scorer and top rebounder Zuby Ejiofor alongside a star-studded list of transfers that includes Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon, Dillon Mitchell and former UK player Bryce Hopkins, among others.

247Sports ranks Pitino’s transfer class as the best in the country.

Pope, meanwhile, is hoping to return leading scorer Otega Oweh for next season. Oweh is also going through the NBA draft process, and he has until May 28 to make a final decision on his basketball future.

If he is back in Lexington, he’ll join fellow returnees Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler, Trent Noah and a wealth of incoming talent. 247Sports ranks Kentucky’s transfer group at No. 4 in the country, and the Cats will also be bringing in McDonald’s All-American center Malachi Moreno, five-star guard Jasper Johnson, and 6-foot-11 international prospect Andrija Jelavic as college basketball newcomers.

Kentucky’s non-conference schedule will also include neutral-site games against Michigan State and Gonzaga, a road trip to Louisville, a matchup with Indiana in Rupp Arena, and a yet-unnamed opponent for the third edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Pitino, who turns 73 years old in September, earned the Associated Press coach of the year award for the first time in his career this past season. He had more praise for Pope at that ceremony last month.

“Kentucky hired the right man,” Pitino said. “Mark will be brilliant for so many years, such a humble person, such a caring person and such a great offensive mind.”