Arkansas announces home-and-home series with college basketball giant
By Jake Faigus
Published:
The Arkansas Razorbacks are scheduling massive games under new head coach John Calipari. On Wednesday, Arkansas set a 2-year series with Michigan State and will visit East Lansing on November 8 before a return visit to Bud Walton Arena in 2026. This scheduling is key for Arkansas to feel comfortable about its positioning in the NCAA Tournament.
Both teams announced the scheduled series on their social media accounts:
The matchup also features other massive storylines, like that both head coaches, Tom Izzo and Calipari, are in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Their teams have met 5 times before, with Calipari’s teams holding a 3-2 edge. In their most recent meeting, Michigan State beat the Calipari-coached Kentucky Wildcats in 2022 at the Champions Classic, 86-77.
The Arkansas storyline worth noting in this series is that Arkansas has never beaten Michigan State, which could be massive for the Razorbacks basketball program. The Spartans have beaten Arkansas in their previous 2 matchups — Once in the Maui Classic championship game in 1991 and 1995 in the Great Eight Tournament.
Arkansas’ full non-conference schedule has not been released, but this is the latest matchup to trickle out due to leaks and FOIA requests.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to play home games against Southern (Nov. 3), Central Arkansas (Nov. 11), Louisville as part of the SEC-ACC Challenge (Dec. 3), and Queens (Dec. 16). They also have neutral-site games scheduled or expected against Duke in Chicago on Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), Texas Tech in Dallas (Dec. 13), and Houston in Newark, N.J. (Dec. 20).
The Razorbacks went on a run last year, proving that Calipari is building something in Fayetteville. This scheduling also demonstrates that he is serious and confident about what they can do.
