Arkansas moves up in AP Poll as Acuff’s honors keep stacking up

Arkansas climbs the AP Top 25 as freshman Darius Acuff Jr. collects midseason honors after delivering consecutive high-impact performances.

Arkansas Razorbacks guards Meleek Thomas (1) and Darius Acuff Jr (5) talk to coach John Calipari during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas didn’t need style points this week.

The Razorbacks needed results, and they got them, enough to move three spots upward in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The jump to No. 15 followed a week that paired a comfortable non-conference win with a meaningful SEC start at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday with an 86-75 win over Tennessee to start SEC play.

The Hogs closed December by handling James Madison at home, then opened league play with a victory that immediately steadied its footing.

The wins mattered on their own, but context mattered more.

Arkansas faced a non-conference schedule that included five teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25, another detail that helped shape how voters interpreted the Razorbacks’ overall body of work.

The same movement showed up elsewhere. The Hogs climbed three spots in the USA Today Coaches Poll as well, landing in the same position as the AP ranking and reinforcing the idea that this wasn’t a one-off adjustment.

Poll movement in early January often says less about ceilings and more about reliability. Arkansas has spent the first half of the season proving it can survive different styles, different tempos, and different types of pressure.

Acuff’s week turns into national recognition

While Arkansas’ climb reflected team results, the week also belonged to freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr., whose performances turned consistency into attention.

Acuff delivered 29 points in Arkansas’ SEC opener, following that with another strong scoring outing earlier in the week against James Madison.

Over those two games, he averaged 23 points while shooting efficiently from the field and from beyond the arc.

The production earned him more than just box-score praise. Acuff was named Naismith Player of the Week, a national honor reserved for the most impactful player in college basketball over that stretch.

He also picked up SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the fourth consecutive time, continuing a run that has separated him from the rest of the league’s first-year class.

Those awards didn’t come from volume alone. Acuff’s scoring arrived within the flow of the offense, often stabilizing Arkansas during stretches when possessions tightened and pace slowed.

For a team navigating the opening weeks of conference play, that reliability from the guard spot has become increasingly valuable.

Calipari’s praise reflects trust, not hype

John Calipari has coached enough elite guards to know when words matter less than roles. Still, he didn’t hesitate when asked about Acuff after the Tennessee win.

“Darius Acuff is a beast,” Calipari said. “He can score all kinds of different ways. He’s good.”

The remark wasn’t framed as projection or promise. It was an acknowledgment of what Acuff is already providing within Arkansas’ current structure.

Calipari has leaned on Acuff not only as a scorer, but as someone capable of creating offense when spacing breaks down or when the tempo stalls against physical defenses.

That trust has grown quietly. Arkansas hasn’t needed to redesign itself around its freshman guard, but it has benefited from knowing where the ball can go when the possession matters.

As conference play unfolds, that dynamic becomes harder for opponents to ignore and harder for Arkansas to replace if it ever disappears.

Why the ranking matters now

Arkansas’ position in the AP Top 25 places it among the SEC’s upper tier heading into the heart of league play, where margin for error narrows quickly.

The Razorbacks aren’t being graded on what they might become. They’re being evaluated on how they’ve handled a demanding early schedule and whether their results travel into January.

For the Hogs, the ranking serves less as validation and more as responsibility. Every opponent now approaches Arkansas as a measured test rather than an unknown quantity.

Acuff’s midseason honors fit neatly into that picture. Individual recognition hasn’t shifted expectations, but it has clarified where Arkansas’ stability originates.

If Arkansas continues to pair collective execution with dependable guard play, the poll number will take care of itself. If not, January has a way of correcting assumptions.

Key takeaways

• Arkansas climbed three spots to No. 15 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
• Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. earned multiple midseason honors after a strong two-game week.
• The Razorbacks’ early ranking reflects schedule strength and consistency entering SEC play.