UConn men's basketball releases 2025-26 Big East schedule

The UConn men’s basketball team will be battle-tested before Big East play begins in the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Dan Hurley’s Huskies could be established national title contenders by the time they host Butler on Dec. 16 to open the conference slate, which was released on Thursday afternoon. Tip times and TV information will be made available at a later date.

After an out-of-conference gauntlet that includes six opponents who could be ranked in the preseason top 25, UConn opens league play with two of its first three games on the road as trips to DePaul (Dec. 21) and Xavier (Dec. 31) follow the Bulldogs’ visit to the newly renamed PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.

Marquette, with its new-look team created the old fashioned way given Shaka Smart’s aversion to the transfer portal, will be the first Big East visitor to Gampel Pavilion this season as it visits on Sunday, Jan. 4. The Dec. 21 trip to DePaul before the holiday break and the visit from the Golden Eagles are the only Sunday games on the Huskies’ league slate.

UConn will play three of its next four games on the road, starting with a trip to Providence on Jan. 7. Then DePaul will visit Hartford on Jan. 10 before the Huskies look for their first win at Seton Hall since March, 2021, on Jan. 13 and have their first test against Ed Cooley’s third Georgetown team in the nation’s capital on Jan. 17.

Kevin Willard will make his first trip to Hartford as Villanova coach on Jan. 24 before the first half of the 20-game league slate concludes with Providence in Storrs on Jan. 27.

Like last year, the Huskies’ schedule only gets more challenging later in the season as the second half of the slate begins with a trip to Creighton on Jan. 31, where UConn won for the first time last year on the back of a record 38-point performance from star freshman Liam McNeeley.

There will be three editions of Hurley vs. Pitino in February as the Huskies welcome Richard and his new Musketeers team to Hartford on Feb. 3 before meeting his Hall of Fame father and St. John’s in what is sure to be one of the most anticipated games of the season at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6.

UConn will then go out to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and look to maintain its perfect 11-0 record against Butler on Feb. 11 before hosting a Valentine’s Day matchup against the Hoyas (Feb. 14) at Gampel Pavilion. Creighton will also visit Storrs on Feb. 18 before the Huskies look to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss at Villanova on Feb. 21.

As it turns out, Hurley wasn’t joking when he said the St. John’s game would move back to Hartford after the Huskies fell in Gampel Pavilion last season. Rick Pitino’s uber-talented group will make the trip to PeoplesBank Arena before UConn hosts Seton Hall on Senior Day (Feb. 28) at Gampel for the third year in a row.

The league slate concludes in Milwaukee on March 7, where UConn has beaten Marquette two years in a row.

The full 2025-25 UConn men’s basketball schedule:

Oct. 13: Boston College (Hall of Fame Exhibition, Mohegan Sun Arena)

Oct. 28: Michigan State (Exhibition, PeoplesBank Arena)

Nov. 3: New Haven (GP)

Nov. 7: UMass Lowell (PBA)

Nov. 10: Columbia (GP)

Nov. 15: vs. BYU (Hall of Fame Series Boston, TD Garden)

Nov. 19: Arizona (GP)

Nov. 23: Bryant (PBA)

Nov. 28: vs. Illinois (Madison Square Garden)

Dec. 2: at Kansas