I've always been interested in nonconference schedules. You can't do anything about who you play in your conference or how good those teams are when you play them, but the nonconference slate is entirely within your control. From them we learn who is willing to go out and challenge themselves and who is just out to pad their win totals.
The Top 25 teams get the most publicity on any schedule, but there are a lot of good basketball teams out there at every level of play. It's inevitable that high major teams like Kentucky are going schedule their share of mid- and low major schools, but that doesn't mean you can't do your best to pick good teams from those conferences.