photo by: Nick Krug

Several rows of fans hold signs celebrating the Jayhawks' 14-straight back-to-back titles prior to tipoff against Texas on Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse.

With dates for marquee games against Michigan State, Villanova and Kentucky already known, the Kansas basketball program officially learned what its road to a 15th consecutive Big 12 title would look like on Wednesday, when the Big 12 Conference released the Big 12 portion of the 2018-19 schedule.

KU will open Big 12 play Jan. 2 at home against Oklahoma, and, as usual, will play in the maximum number of Big Monday games allowed, with three coming in Lawrence and one coming on the road. The upcoming season will mark the 13th consecutive year that KU has appeared on four Big Monday broadcasts on ESPN.

According to a news release announcing the schedule, the 2018-19 season will mark the 27th consecutive season in which every game on the KU men’s basketball schedule will be televised, a streak that dates back to the 1992-93 season.

Thirty-one of KU’s 33 games will be broadcast by the ESPN family of networks — including the newly developed ESPN+ platform — and the other two (Feb. 2 vs. Texas Tech and March 2 at Oklahoma State) will be broadcast by CBS.

KU’s first Big Monday game will come Jan. 14 vs. Texas at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks also will host Iowa State (Jan. 21) and Kansas State (Feb. 25) for Big Monday games, while playing at TCU in this season’s other Big Monday game on Feb. 11.

Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas is 65-18 all-time on ESPN Big Monday (37-1 at home and 28-17 on the road), including 45-12 under head coach Bill Self (26-0 at home and 19-12 on the road). Additionally, KU has won 30 consecutive Big Monday games at Allen Fieldhouse and its last 10 ESPN Big Monday contests overall.

With the schedule now set and the season opener just two months away — KU opens exhibition play even earlier, with games against Emporia State on Oct. 25 and Washburn on Nov. 1 — the Jayhawks officially will tip off the 2018-19 season with the 34th annual Late Night in the Phog at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in Allen Fieldhouse.

Here’s a look at the complete 2018-19 KU men’s basketball schedule, with some game times yet to be determined:

2018-19 Kansas Men’s Basketball Schedule

Oct. 25 – vs. Emporia State (exhibition), 7 p.m.

Nov. 1 – vs. Washburn (exhibition), 7 p.m.

Nov. 6 – vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic in Indianapolis), TBA

Nov. 12 – vs. Vermont, TBA

Nov. 16 – vs. Louisiana, 7 p.m.

Nov. 21 – vs. Marquette (NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn), 6 p.m.

Nov. 23 – vs. Louisville/Tennessee (NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn), TBA

Dec. 1 – vs. Stanford, TBA

Dec. 4 – vs. Wofford, 7 p.m.

Dec. 8 – vs. New Mexico State (Jayhawk Shootout at Sprint Center), TBA

Dec. 15 – vs. Villanova, TBA

Dec. 18 – vs. South Dakota, 7 p.m.

Dec. 22 – at Arizona State, TBA

Dec. 29 – vs. Eastern Michigan, 1 p.m.

Jan. 2 – vs. Oklahoma, 8 p.m.

Jan. 5 – at Iowa State, 4 p.m.

Jan. 9 – vs. TCU, 8 p.m.

Jan. 12 – at Baylor, 3 p.m.

Jan. 14 – vs. Texas, 8 p.m.

Jan. 19 – at West Virginia, TBA

Jan. 21 – vs. Iowa State, 8 p.m.

Jan. 26 – at Kentucky, TBA

Jan. 29 – at Texas, 6 p.m.

Feb. 2 – vs. Texas Tech, 3 p.m.

Feb. 5 – at Kansas State, 8 p.m.

Feb. 9 – vs. Oklahoma State, 11 a.m.

Feb. 11 – at TCU, 8 p.m.

Feb. 16 – vs. West Virginia, TBA

Feb. 23 – at Texas Tech, 5 or 7 p.m.

Feb. 25 – vs. Kansas State, 8 p.m.

March 2 – at Oklahoma State, 11 a.m.

March 5 – at Oklahoma, 8 p.m.

March 9 – vs. Baylor, 11 a.m.

March 13-16 – Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo.