Virginia Tech to Play the Kentucky Wildcats Next Season

Virginia Tech will play the University of Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena on Dec. 16, 2017. That comes via an announcement from men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams Wednesday.

The Wildcats are a powerhouse under coach John Calipari. Last season, Kentucky went 32-6 overall and finished 16-2 in SEC play. They went on to win the SEC Tournament championship.

Virginia Tech meanwhile returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade and finished with an overall record of 22-11. That marked the program’s first back-to-back 20-win seasons in six years.

The move goes a long way to upgrade the Hokies’ non-conference schedule with a marquee match up. While Tech’s overall strength of schedule was strong last season, it was buoyed by the dominance of the ACC.

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“Like all coaches, you want your non-conference schedule to help prepare you for the best league in the country, and competing against a Hall of Fame coach at one of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball will aid in that preparation,” Williams said in a press release.

This will mark just the fifth time that these teams have met on the hardwood. The last meeting came in the second round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Kentucky won 80-64 under then coach Rick Pitino, and went on to win the national championship.

The Wildcats lead the all-time series 3-1, but the Hokies have pulled a significant upset in Lexington before.

On December 1, 1962 Virginia Tech opened the season with an 80-77 upset of No.3 Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum. It was the first game under the leadership of head coach Bill Matthews.

The Hokies parlayed that big win into another later that month with an upset of No. 5 Mississippi State in Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies however would finish just 12-12 that season.

This meeting will mark Tech’s first visit to Rupp Arena which opened in 1976.