Hot takes on Hoop Hogs’ best 20 matchups in 2024-25 (includes list of Arkansas’ entire 31-game schedule plus exhibition tilts)
on 2024-09-19 11:04 AM
EDITOR’S NOTE: Arkansas men’s basketball had not officially released the team’s entire 2024-25 schedule at time article was published.
By Kevin McPherson
LITTLE ROCK — We now know the 31 total matchups comprising the Arkansas Razorbacks men’s basketball program’s 2024-25 schedule, so we’re ready to drop our list of the Hoop Hogs’ 20 most anticipated games in year one of the John Calipari era as Head Hog.
In Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Calipari’s first season at Arkansas, the Hoop Hogs will have 13 non-conference matchups (9 at home, 3 neutral-site, and 1 on the road) plus 18 SEC games (9 at home at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, and 9 on the road) for a total of 31 regular-season contests to be played prior to postseason tournaments (SEC and NCAA). There are also a couple of noteworthy charity exhibition games: home vs. Kansas on Oct. 25 and on the road against TCU on Nov. 1.
The non-conference headline matchups are 4 marquee games (Baylor on Nov. 9 in Dallas; Illinois on Nov. 28 in the Turkey Throwdown in Kansas City, Mo.; at Miami on Dec. 3 in the second annual ACC/SEC Challenge; and Michigan on Dec. 10 in the Jimmy V Classic in New York City) PLUS two games against in-state Division 1 opponents (Little Rock on Nov. 22 at home at BWA, and Central Arkansas on Dec. 14 at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock).
With as many as 10 of the SEC’s 16 basketball programs receiving preseason projections to make the postseason NCAA Tournament, the Razorbacks have no shortage of key league battles beginning in early January. The list of heavyweight tussles includes: Road games at Tennessee in the SEC opener on Jan. 4, at Kentucky on Feb. 1, at Texas on Feb. 4/5, at Texas A&M on Feb. 15, at Auburn on Feb. 18/19; and home games at BWA against Ole Miss on Jan. 7/8, against Florida on Jan. 11; against Alabama on Feb. 8, against Texas on Feb. 25/26, and against Mississippi State on March 8.
Here’s our take on Arkansas’ 20 best matchups of ’24-25 …
1. Kentucky, road game, Feb. 1. It’s Calipari’s first game at Rupp Arena as an opposing coach! The Naismith Hall of Famer spent the last 15 seasons leading Big Blue Nation as the program enjoyed one national championship, four Final Fours, and numerous SEC regular-season and postseason tournament titles under his watch. Calipari’s first Arkansas roster includes three Kentucky transfers and three of the Wildcats’ previously signed or committed 5-star high school recruits, while new UK head coach and former Wildcats player Mark Pope has recruited well in the offseason and should have a worthy squad. Rupp will be wild, the tilt will be the talk of college basketball, and the game should serve as a Quad-1 win opportunity for the Hogs.
2. Alabama, home game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Feb. 8. The Hogs will return to BWA after back-to-back road games (Kentucky and Texas) to host the Tide, who return key pieces from last season’s NCAA Tournament Final Four team and will possibly (if not likely) enter ’24-25 with preseason national No. 1 poll rankings. Calipari is the dean of SEC coaches with the league’s best long-term resume while Oats has been the SEC’s coaching poster boy spanning the previous five seasons. Tide senior guard Mark Sears and Hogs senior guard Johnell “Nelly” Davis both have preseason SEC Player of the Year shine with supporting casts that offer plenty of all league punch, too. A Saturday game, this could shape up to be one of the sexiest mega matchups in all of college basketball in ’24-25.
3. Tennessee, road game, Jan. 4. The defending SEC regular-season champion Vols are coming off an NCAAT Elite Eight run, and they’ll be projected to finish in the top 4-5 teams in the SEC. Hosting the Hogs means the Vols will be facing their all league center from a year ago in Jonas Aidoo, who transferred to Arkansas in the offseason. Tennessee returns all league guard Zakai Zeigler while welcoming in highly regarded transfers Darlinstone Dubar and Chaz Lanier. The Hogs and Vols rank second and third in the SEC, respectively, in overall wins spanning the past 10 seasons, and in the past four seasons the stakes have typically been high when these two teams have met. Another likely Q1 win opportunity for the Razorbacks.
4. Baylor, neutral-site game in Dallas, Nov. 9. The Bears are consistently among the top three programs in the Big 12 Conference, which consistently has been the strongest basketball league in the nation. Arkansas leads the all-time series, 96-49, against Baylor with most of the matchups coming in the old Southwest Conference, but the Bears have won the last three meetings in non-conference affairs, including an 81-72 triumph in the 2020-21 NCAAT Elite Eight during Baylor’s run to the school’s first and only national championship. The ’24-25 Bears feature returning double-digit-scoring guard Langston Love to go with high-caliber transfers Jeremy Roach and Norchad Omier, plus 5-star freshman VJ Edgecombe. The Hogs are 4-1 all-time in Dallas against the Bears, and this matchup certainly will offer a first-week-of-the-season Q1 win opportunity.
5 & 6. Texas TWICE, road game on Jan. 4/5 and home game at BWA on Feb. 25/26. Ah, the return of what was a classic hoops rivalry in the old SWC with the Hogs leading the all-time series, 87-68. The ‘Horns have won 4 of the last 6 meetings, all coming after the Hogs’ move to the SEC. In its first campaign in the SEC, Texas will have what appears to be a NCAAT-worthy roster with the likes of Arkansas transfer wing Tramon Mark, transfer guard Jordan Pope, 5-star freshman wing Tre Johnson, and transfer combo forward Arthur Kaluma. Arkansas will have no problem packing BWA with rabid Hog fans clamoring for a win over the school’s long-time hated rival, and both matchups (home-and-away) could offer Q1 win opportunities.
7. Auburn, road game, Feb. 18/19. Another road game against a projected top 4-5 SEC team, so once again it lines up as a Q1 win opportunity. The Tigers return arguably the best big man in the league if not the best overall player in Johni Broome with veterans Chris Moore (West Memphis native), Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, and Dylan Cardwell also returning while welcoming in highly regarded transfer JP Pegues and freshman Jahki Howard. The Tigers blew the doors off BWA a season ago in a 32-point win, so the Hogs will be looking for revenge while adding a NCAAT resume-strengthening win.
tie 8. Miami, road game in ACC/SEC Challenge, Dec. 3. The Hurricane are two years removed from a run to the NCAAT Final Four, but after last season’s disappointing second-to-last-place finish in the ACC it seems Miami is poised to bounce back with two returning double-figure-scoring backcourt veterans Nijel Pack and Matthew Cleveland — both were on that Final Four team — plus the additions of 5-star freshman guard Jalil Bethea and Top 50-ranked freshman guard Austin Swartz. This will mark Arkansas’ only true road game in non-conference play, giving it added significance, and with the stage being the second annual ACC / SEC Challenge it will offer a national TV audience on the ESPN family of networks. If Miami maintains a Top 75 ranking in the NCAA NET rankings, the result will count as Q1 on the Hogs’ resume.
tie 8. Illinois, neutral-site game, Turkey Throwdown in Kansas City, 3 p.m. CT, Nov. 28 (CBS). Coming off a strong finish in the Big 10 followed by a run to the NCAAT Elite Eight, the Illini will be replacing most of their top rotation of players with only one starter returning in the form of wing Ty Rogers. But head coach Brad Underwood did an exceptional job of recruiting in the offseason, bringing in 5-star freshman combo forward Will Riley and freshmen Tomislav Ivisic (7-2 twin brother of Zvonimir Ivisic) and Morez Johnson, Jr., as well as key transfers in Kylan Boswell, Tre White, and Carey Booth. Former Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua, who was with Calipari the last several years, is back with Underwood at Illinois, adding another storyline to the Thanksgiving Day matchup. As long as Illinois maintains a Top 50 ranking in the NET, this will count as a Q1 result.
10. Ole Miss, home game at BWA, Jan. 7/8. Just five seasons removed from leading Texas Tech to the national title game, Chris Beard has had huge success everywhere he’s been and he just might be primed to take Ole Miss basketball to heights the program has never enjoyed before. His frontline recruiting in the offseason was top-shelf as he landed transfers Malik Dia and Mikeal Brown-Jones along with highly regarded 7-foot-2 freshman center John Bol. All league guard Matthew Murrell is back as is veteran forward Jaemyn Brakefield. A hot name at the very start of Arkansas’ coaching search in early April before Calipari accepted the job, Beard bringing his team into BWA for the Hogs’ home conference opener will likely send a charge through the near-20,000-seat venue. It’s a collision of elite coaches and two teams that will bring NCAAT tournament and top-half-of-league projections into the season, so this early SEC clash will be important for both teams.
11. Florida, home game at BWA, Jan. 11. Head coach Todd Golden has done a low-key strong job at Florida following the Mike White era, and his Gators were an NCAAT team a year ago. This matchup will mark the Hogs’ second home conference game out of nine total, and Florida once again will come in with preseason NCAAT and top-half-of-league projections. It’s a squad that has star guard Walter Clayton, Jr., back in Gainesville along with 7-1 center Micah Handlogten, 6-11 center Alex Condon, and guard Will Richard while welcoming in transfers Sam Alexis and Alijah Martin as well as 7-9 freshman center Olivier Rioux.
12. Texas A&M, road game, Feb. 15. The Aggies will once again earn preseason projections to finish among the Top 4-5 teams in the SEC before earning an NCAAT at-large bid, but because they are typically enigmatic in either non-conference play or league play, it’s a tough task seeing this as a sexy league matchup. A&M returns the bulk of last season’s NCAAT team, including star guard Wade Taylor IV plus veterans Andersson Garcia, Henry Coleman III, Tyrece Radford, and others. Arkansas leads the all-time series, 108-61, but the Aggies are 3-1 against the Hogs in the teams’ last four meetings in College Station. Another likely Q1 win opportunity here.
13. Michigan, neutral-site game, Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 8 p.m. CT, Dec. 10 (ESPN). While there are plenty of question marks about the post-Juwan-Howard-era Wolverines, new head coach Dusty May is a hot young name in college coaching who is tasked with rebuilding a roster in his first season coaching at a high-major program after leading mid-major Florida Atlantic to an unlikely NCAAT Final Four run two seasons ago. May brought with him from FAU transfer big man Vlad Golden, and this matchup offers him the opportunity to coach against his star guard at FAU, Johnell “Nelly” Davis. Two coaches in their first seasons at new schools, opposing players that were once teammates on a Final Four squad, and the national spotlight of the prestigious Jimmy V Classic in the mecca of basketball — Madison Square Garden in New York City — offer plenty of value in this matchup that will be played on a national stage. It appears this contest will be the third consecutive non-conference game for the Hogs that will be played away from their home spanning late November to early December, which makes winning this one extra important.
14. Mississippi State, home game at BWA, March 8. Bulldogs head coach Chris Jans is not a flashy name in coaching and MSU has never been a flashy program in terms of national perception, but this squad will come in with preseason NCAAT and top-half-of-league projections. It’s also Arkansas’ regular-season finale on its homecourt with a chance to go into postseason with a momentum-building win over a potential NCAAT team. MSU reeled in talented Florida transfer guard Riley Kugel to team up with crafty sophomore lead guard Josh Hubbard in the backcourt, and the ‘Dogs also return veteran wing and all league defender Cameron Matthews as well as guard Shawn Jones, Jr. Frontline transfer RJ Melendez will be key.
15. Oklahoma, home game at BWA, Jan. 25. While Oklahoma appears to be one of six SEC teams that will come in with little fanfare in ’24-25, the Sooners under Porter Moser hung two losses on the Hogs in three matchups spanning the previous three seasons in what were non-conference neutral-site games played in Tulsa, Okla. So there’s the matter of revenge for Arkansas while welcoming OU into the SEC with the team’s lone matchup of the SEC season coming in Fayetteville. Big man Sam Godwin and forward Jalon Moore are back with a host of incoming transfers and top 25-ranked high school prospect / freshman guard Jeremiah Fears, but this looks like it could be a season of struggle for OU as it enters the SEC. Still, the fact OU had the last laugh against Arkansas last season and given the circumstance of welcoming in a league expansion team, this game has a bit more significance than some others.
16 & 17. Missouri TWICE, road game on Jan. 18 and home game at BWA on Feb. 22. The Tigers were winless in 19 games against league opponents last season, and this will not be a team coming into ’24-25 with high expectations. BUT, third-year head coach Dennis Gates did nab a top-15 ranked high school recruiting class in the offseason, including highly regarded Little Rock native Annor Boateng. Meanwhile, Arkansas got a return player that initially seemed unlikely in fourth-year frontliner Trevon Brazile, a Missouri native who began his career as a freshman at Mizzou before transferring. These matchups are also part of two manageable stretches for Arkansas: Among the first seven games of league play and the start of a five-game stretch to close out the regular season, making both important contests in the Hogs’ quest to compete for an SEC title while building a worthy postseason resume.
18, 19, & 20. A trio of mid-major, non-conference games against Little Rock (home at BWA on Nov. 22), Central Arkansas (home at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock on Dec. 14) and Oakland (home at BWA on Dec. 30) … the Little Rock Trojans boast the return of former Hog and ’23-24 first-team ALL OVC guard KK Robinson as well as highly regarded transfers Mwani Wilkinson (LSU) and Johnathan Lawson (Memphis and Creighton) … the UCA Bears will be playing the Hogs on a neutral court (that’s a first for Arkansas against an in-state school in 76 years) and will feature a couple of talented in-state freshmen guards in Layne Taylor and Ty Robinson … and Oakland was one of the Cinderella storylines of the ’23-24 NCAAT as a 14-seed that knocked off Calipari’s final Kentucky team in March, and though Wildcat-killer Jack Gohlke (32 points on 10-of-20 shooting from 3 off the bench) is gone there is no doubt the Hogs’ final non-conference game prior to the start of SEC play will gain some national traction.
Here’s the Hoop Hogs’ entire 31-game regular season schedule plus two exhibition games in chronological order (all times CT) …
– Oct. 12 Tip-off tour event 1 (intra-squad scrimmage), Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs
– Oct. 13 Tip-off tour event 2 (intra-squad scrimmage), Pine Bluff Convention Center
– Oct. 25 EXHIBITION vs. Kansas, BWA in Fayetteville
– Nov. 1 EXHIBITION @ TCU
– Nov. 6 Lipscomb, BWA in Fayetteville
– Nov. 9 Baylor, American Airlines Arena in Dallas
– Nov. 13 Troy, BWA in Fayetteville
– Nov. 18 Pacific, BWA in Fayetteville
– Nov. 22 Little Rock, BWA in Fayetteville
– Nov. 25 Maryland-Eastern Shore, BWA in Fayetteville
– Nov. 28 Illinois, T-Mobile Center in Kansas City (3 p.m. on CBS)
– Dec. 3 at Miami, second annual ACC/SEC Challenge
– Dec. 7 Texas San-Antonio, BWA in Fayetteville
– Dec. 10 Michigan, Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City (8 p.m. on ESPN)
– Dec. 14 Central Arkansas, Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock
– Dec. 21 North Carolina A&T, BWA in Fayetteville
– Dec. 30 Oakland, BWA in Fayetteville
– Jan. 4 at Tennessee
– Jan. 8 Ole Miss, BWA in Fayetteville
– Jan. 11 Florida, BWA in Fayetteville
– Jan. 14 at LSU
– Jan. 18 at Missouri
– Jan. 22 Georgia, BWA in Fayetteville
– Jan. 25 Oklahoma, BWA in Fayetteville
– Feb. 1 at Kentucky
– Feb. 5 at Texas
– Feb. 8 Alabama, BWA in Fayetteville
– Feb. 12 LSU, BWA in Fayetteville
– Feb. 15 at Texas A&M
– Feb. 19 at Auburn
– Feb. 22 Missouri, BWA in Fayetteville
– Feb. 26 Texas, BWA in Fayetteville
– March 1 at South Carolina
– March 4 at Vanderbilt
– March 8 Mississippi State, BWA in Fayetteville
– March 12-16 SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena)
(Last updated: 2024-09-19 11:04 AM)