Schedule Release Video Held Strong Hidden Message for Duke

If Blue Devils didn't have Arkansas on their minds, they do now

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Sep 1, 2023 2:56 AM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – While everyone else was getting hung up on Joseph Pinion's sleeping pod inside the Razorback locker room at Bud Walton Arena in the beginning of the schedule release video, there was a sharp jab at Duke that a lot of people missed that held way more importance.

When it comes time to reveal Duke in the series of skits as one of the non-conference games, the players find the piece of paper showing it on the glass case surrounding the Razorbacks' basketball national championship. For those who know their history, Arkansas took down Grant Hill and Mike Krzyzewski's 1993-94 Blue Devils team in Charlotte, North Carolina, a glorified home game for the media favorites.

The series is currently tied 2-2. Duke won 78-69 in 2022 in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Tournament. Prior to that was the 76-72 Razorback win in the 1994 national title game and a 97-83 Duke win in the 1990 Final Four. Arkansas avenged that loss a few months later in the Preseason NIT semifinals in New York City, 98-88.

No doubt, this little Easter egg in an otherwise innocuous non-conference schedule announcement video will provide a little extra fire to a game between storied programs that should have happened many times prior. This will be the first occasion for either team to set foot on the other's court, which in itself will provide one final needle into the side of the Duke program.

The floor in Fayetteville is Nolan Richardson Court, the coach who made it personal when taking down Duke in the finals, and above it hangs the championship banner that eluded Hill, one of the Blue Devil's greatest players.

That alone is enough to make this meeting in the ACC-SEC Challenge must-see, but that 10 seconds of video featuring forwards Trevon Brazile and Jeremiah Davenport just took it up a notch. If both teams somehow make it to Nov. 29 undefeated, expect the clip to be shown over and over, setting up what would surely be a Top 10 showdown.

The game will take place Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 8:15 p.m., just a few days after the Razorbacks return from what is expected to be a brutal 3-day tournament in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, Duke plays Arizona and Michigan State early in the November before coasting through what should be three easy games before packing for Arkansas.