College Basketball: Previewing Opening Weekend's Arkansas-Michigan State Matchup

College basketball's opening weekend is filled with a handful of interesting matchups, including Alabama-St John's, Marquette-Indiana, and Arkansas-Michigan State. Additionally, opening night on the previous Monday (November 3rd) features two exciting games of Florida-Arizona and BYU-Villanova.

Here's who to watch in an intriguing opening weekend battle between Coach Calipari's Arkansas squad against Tom Izzo's Michigan State squad on Saturday, November 8th.

Arkansas

The Razorbacks likely have one of the youngest rosters in college basketball, with seven freshmen and four sophomores on the team. To start, Arkansas signed a consensus top-five player in the 2025 high school class in Darius Acuff Jr. He's a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard who can shoot off the catch and off screens, has some real driving ability using change-of-pace, and has shown live dribble playmaking ability off of those drives as well. Acuff Jr is also a capable pick-and-roll playmaker and has shown flashes of self-creation ability and on-ball defense. He's a potential lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Arkansas' backcourt also features the No. 12 overall player in the 2025 high school class, according to 247Sports Composite: Meleek Thomas. He's a 6-foot-5 guard known for his self-creation and shotmaking ability.

In addition to two of the top freshmen in the class, Coach Calipari's squad features one of the best returners in college basketball in Karter Knox. The 6-foot-6 wing would have likely been drafted had he stayed in the 2025 NBA Draft, and was one of the few players last season who hit my Efficient Tall Freshman query -- 41 of the 60 players (68%) who have previously met the criteria have played five-plus years in the NBA or are currently in the league.

Lastly, this Razorbacks squad features a few other players to watch, including 6-foot-10 senior Trevon Brazile, 6-foot-4 junior guard DJ Wagner, and 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Billy Richmond III.

Michigan State

The Spartans have three main players to watch in this game: freshmen Cam Ward and Jordan Scott, and junior Coen Carr. Ward is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward who fits a prototypical college four-man role. He's known for his ability to finish around the basket and has a 6-foot-11 wingspan and physicality that could lead to interesting potential defensively. Scott is a 6-foot-7, 190-pound wing who's known for his potential as a shooter and has shown the ability to be an event creator on the defensive end.

Lastly, Coen Carr is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior who is one of the best athletes in college basketball and is especially known for his verticality. Carr has been effective as a rebounder and defensive event creator so far in college basketball (8.7 offensive rebound percentage and 5.5 stock percentage last season), but needs to find a calling card offensively to enter NBA radars. He's shown potential as a play finisher, but either improving his playmaking off of drives or extending his ability as a shooter (only 15 three point attempts last season and was a 70.1% free throw shooter last season) would help him take the next jump in his development.