Razorbacks Now Know SEC Foes for Basketball
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas fans appear to have gotten what they wanted in regard to the SEC basketball schedule. While the days and times have yet to be released, it has been made official that the Razorbacks will play home-and-home games against Kentucky, Missouri, LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia.
This marks the third time Arkansas and Kentucky have played a home-and-home series since the Razorbacks joined the SEC back in 1991-92 season. The Razorbacks and Wildcats split that first series in a stalemate that would come to define the struggle between Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson and Kentucky coach John Calipari for dominance between the two programs in the SEC that lasted the remainder of the decade.
A home and home against Missouri guarantees Connor Vanover and Trevon Brazile each get to go back to their original SEC schools. These two have hooked up with home-and0home games since the Tigers entered the league in 2012.
The single shot home games also set up for a blockbuster year in Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas fans will get to be part of games against Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Three of those four are high emotion games.
That leaves a game in Tuscaloosa as a possible showdown for the league's top seed in the NCAA tournament against Alabama. The only other times the Hogs and Tide met for a single game happened in 2020 and 2022. Those also took place in Tuscaloosa. The schedule format also generates road games at Florida and Mississippi State, and sends Arkansas to Oxford to face Chris Beard's first-ever group of Rebels.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
• Arkansas and Missouri will be playing a home-and-home series for the 12th consecutive year. The streak coincides with the number of years since the Tigers joined the SEC (2012-13). Arkansas leads the all-time series with Missouri, 33-27, and leads 14-8 since Mizzou joined the SEC.
• Arkansas and LSU have met for a home-and-home series in all but two seasons since the Razorbacks joined the SEC (1991-92). The Razorbacks and Tigers only met once in 2013 (at Baton Rouge) and just once in 2015 (in Fayetteville). Arkansas leads the Tigers 38-30 since the Razorbacks joined the SEC and has won seven of the last 11 versus LSU.
• Arkansas and Texas A&M will be scheduled to play a home-and-home series for the 10th time in the now 12 years since the Aggies joined the conference. While Arkansas leads the all-time series with the Aggies, 106-60, the advantage is just 11-10 since A&M joined the SEC. The home teams have dominated the series over the last 12 seasons as Arkansas is 9-1 versus the Aggies at home and Texas A&M is 7-2 versus the Razorbacks in College Station.
• Arkansas will host Georgia in a home-and-home series for the first time since 2014 and just the third time ever. The only other time it happened was in 2006. However, the teams have played multiple times in a season nine other times as the programs have squared off nine times in the SEC Tournament. That makes the Bulldogs the second-most common opponent at the SEC Tournament behind Kentucky (10 meetings).
• The longest streak Arkansas currently has of playing an SEC opponent just once in the regular season is versus Florida. This year will mark the seventh-straight year the Razorbacks and Gators are scheduled to meet just once.
• The schedule has favored the Volunteers of late. Since 2014, Arkansas has played in Knoxville nine times and, including this season, Tennessee will be coming to Fayetteville for just the sixth time.
(Razorback Communications contributed to this article)
