Juicy Top 10 Match-Ups Something Hog Fans Can Care About Now

Slate of high quality college basketball kicks off tonight, will affect Arkansas after decades of it not

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 15, 2022 5:50 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the past couple of years, Arkansas has made Elite 8 runs once the NCAA tournament came around.

However, throughout both years, fans and followers of Eric Musselman's Razorbacks found themselves on the lookout for the performance of middle of the pack schools like LSU as the Hogs tried to climb their way out of 6-9 seed purgatory.

Because of this, when marquis match-ups rolled onto the college basketball calendar, there really wasn't a Razorback related reason to watch.

However, for the first time since the Nolan Richardson years, there is a legitimate reason to keep up with the goings on of Top 10 teams. Wins and losses by teams like Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, and Kansas had zero impact on Arkansas last year during the regular season.

However, this year they matter and, boy, does the schedule over the next couple of days provide a lot of eye candy for Razorback fans.

CHAMPIONS CLASSIC (Indianapolis, Ind.)

No. 4 Kentucky vs. Michigan St., Tuesday, 6 p.m. (ESPN, Fubo TV)

No. 7 Duke vs. No. 6 Kansas, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN, Fubo TV)

No. 11 Texas vs. No. 2 Gonzaga, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN 2, Fubo TV)

The Razorbacks moved up a spot to No. 9 in the most recent AP poll, proving voters either lack awareness of the Texas game or do not care because it was an exhibition.

Besides potentially high levels of entertainment, what this schedule presents is an opportunity to climb further up the polls just before things tip off in Maui against Louisville next Monday.

Speaking of Louisville, if no one has kept up with how things are unfolding for upcoming opponents, this isn't your older sibling's Cardinal basketball team.

Not only did Louisville lose to Bellarmine and Wright St. to open the season, Kenny Payne's team dropped an exhibition game to Lenoir-Rhyne, 57-47 and struggled to hold off a Chaminade team that lost to Cincinnati by 42 and got knocked off by Alaska last Saturday.

That's right. Good ole' plain Alaska has a basketball team.

That's why it might be worth a glance to see if the Cardinals can get on a winning track when they host Appalachian State in the KFC Yum! Center tonight at 5 p.m.

Take it from an old-timer. Appreciate this time.

The need to care about Top 10 match-ups can seemingly disappear overnight.

One minute you're in high school wondering if Duke will lose so your team can claim a No. 1 seed and the next you've got a kid about to graduate high school and you haven't had a reason to care about Top 10 basketball games since.