Kentucky coach Mark Pope is a genius for scheduling two challenging exhibition games ahead of the 2025-26 season

Nothing helps a team get ready for the season like a tune-up game, and this season, the Kentucky Wildcats will play two tough opponents to help them prepare for the 2025-26 season.

Last season, in the first year under Coach Pope, the Wildcats hosted two exhibition games against Kentucky Wesleyan and Minnesota State. The Wildcats took down Kentucky Wesleyan 123-52 and took down Minnesota State 98-67. To be fair, Minnesota State was fresh off a national title in their division, but these games weren't the best tune-up games for the Wildcats.

This season will completely change as the Wildcats are set to host both Purdue and Georgetown for exhibition matchups in Rupp Arena. Many consider Purdue to be the best team in college basketball, so there is literally no better tune-up game possible than the best team in college hoops.

Georgetown will also be another good test for Kentucky, but this matchup with Purdue is the one fans are marking down on the calendar. Fans are quite confident that Kentucky is one of the best teams in college basketball this season, and this test will show just how good this team is early in the year.

Now, Kentucky fans don't want a team that is going to peak too early. Win or lose in these exhibition matchups, fans just want to see that the Wildcats are right there with one of the best teams in college hoops.

It was great that Coach Pope was able to get these games scheduled, as it should really help this team prepare for the season. The one concern the Wildcats will have in this game is that, more than likely, they will be without Jayden Quaintance. Coach Pope didn't seem super confident on a timetable, and knowing this is the case, the chance he plays in these exhibitions is close to zero.

Luckily, this is the point of games like this, as whether it's a win or a loss, it will get the team prepared. The crowds in Rupp Arena should be rowdy when the Wildcats take on these two teams.

It would be great if the Wildcats were able to start scheduling games like this every season. It would also be good to play in some games like this away from Rupp Arena to get used to road crowds.

Kentucky's exhibition against Purdue is on Friday, October 24th, and the matchup with Georgetown is on Thursday, October 30th.