Kentucky Football to play Week Zero games in the 2027 and 2028 seasons

TAMPA, FLORIDA - JULY 20: Head Coach Will Stein of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks at the SEC Football Media Day at Tampa Marriott Water Street on July 20, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Parker S. Freedman/Getty Images) | Getty Images With new head coach Will Stein coming in, excitement around the K

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What is the story about?

With new head coach Will Stein coming in, excitement around the Kentucky Football program is the highest it has been in years.

Kickoff is still more than two weeks away, as the Wildcats take on Youngstown State in the season opener on September 5th. But next season, Kentucky fans will get to see their team a week sooner, as Stein has started putting his fingerprints on the schedule and making his first changes.

FBSchedules.com is reporting that Kentucky has moved up two future FCS games to Week Zero

for the next two seasons. Next season’s game vs. Murray State, which was originally scheduled for September 18, 2027, has been moved up to August 28th.

In 2028, Kentucky’s Week 5 matchup against Eastern Illinois has been moved up to August 26, 2028, at Kroger Field.

A big reason for this is the schedule adjustment the NCAA passed back in June. Starting in 2027, the regular season has been expanded to 14 weeks, a change that was finalized this week.

While the changes take away some of the pageantry of Week Zero and the start of the college football season, they give teams an extra week to recover and more freedom in scheduling non-conference matchups.