Tonight’s game against UAPB will be loud. Odds are it won’t be very close.
That suits John Calipari just fine.
Coach Cal will probably learn more watching the replay than he will standing on the sideline. He’s got a young group, and the hard part of the schedule isn’t far off.
The Arkansas basketball season opener tips off at 7 p.m. CST in Fayetteville, with the Razorbacks hosting the Golden Lions. It’s the first game of 2026-27 that counts on the record.
SEC Network+ is carrying the game.
Fans can also listen online at HitThatLine.com or statewide on the Razorback Sports Network at ESPN Arkansas 93.7 and 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in Fort Smith and the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs or 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Arkansas sits 12th in one national poll and 13th in the other.
Nine players got real minutes in the exhibitions
The two exhibition games let Calipari see his team go up against somebody besides each other. Nine Hogs averaged at least 17 minutes.
Billy Richmond III logged the most at 26.2. Everyone else in that nine-man group landed between 17 and 22.
That’s a lot of guys still auditioning for a spot.
Richmond made good use of his time. He put up 17 points against Gonzaga and another 17 against Memphis.
He moved the ball well too, finishing with eight assists. He also went 5-for-7 from 3-point range, which is 71.4%.
Davion Thompson came next at 12.5 points a game.
Jordan Smith Jr. gave the offense a boost against the Tigers. His 17 points tied Richmond for the team lead that night.
The big men cleaned up the glass
Miikka Muurinen and Cooper Bowser each pulled down nine rebounds a game.
Muurinen’s best night came against Memphis. He scored 10 and grabbed 12 boards for a double-double, and he averaged 10 points overall.
Bowser was the most accurate shooter on the roster at 77.8% from the floor. He also swatted four shots, more than any teammate.
The final scores were 76-72 over Gonzaga and 93-81 over Memphis. Gonzaga was ranked 15th and 12th when the Razorbacks beat the Bulldogs.
Those numbers won’t go on anybody’s career stat sheet.
They do give Calipari something to measure tonight’s film against.
Coach Cal knows his way around an opener
This is the first time Arkansas and UAPB have met in men’s basketball.
Calipari has a one-game head start. His Memphis team beat the Golden Lions 78-54 on Nov. 25, 2002.
He owns a 27-7 career record in season openers. In home openers, he’s 31-3.
His last 23 home openers have all been wins. Since taking the Arkansas job, he’s 2-0 in both season and home openers.
The program’s numbers look about the same. Arkansas is 84-19 all-time when opening a season and 93-10 when opening at home.
The Hogs have won 52 home openers in a row. Inside Bud Walton Arena, they’re 33-0.
One old loss Calipari probably remembers well
Arkansas has gone 52-3 in its last 55 season openers.
UCLA beat the Razorbacks on the Bruins’ floor in 1973-74, back when UCLA was ranked No. 1.
Texas won in overtime at a neutral site to start 2018-19.
The third one is kind of funny looking back. A No. 3 UMass team beat Arkansas on a neutral floor to start 1994-95, and Calipari was coaching UMass at the time.
He’s on the right side of that history these days, at least as far as Hogs fans are concerned.
All three losses came away from home. UAPB would have to end a 52-game home opener streak to change that.
Virginia is up next
Things get a lot harder Sunday, Nov. 8, when Arkansas faces Virginia in the Capital Showcase in Washington, D.C.
The Cavaliers are ranked ninth and 10th.
Tipoff is 1 p.m. EST, which is noon CST, on ESPN.
That leaves five days between games.
Whatever shows up on tonight’s film, there won’t be much time to fix it.
So go make some noise tonight. Calipari will be the one up late watching it all again.
