Arkansas basketball faces North Carolina for first time in Chapel Hill
Arkansas will head to Chapel Hill this December for one of the more recognizable matchups on its non-conference slate.
The Hogs are set to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Dean Smith Center on Dec. 1 as part of the 2026 SEC/ACC Challenge, according to CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, who broke the full slate of matchups Thursday night.
NEWS: Matchups for the 2026 ACC/SEC Challenge are set, per sources.
Ark @ UNC
AU @ Clem
Duke @ UF
BC @ UGA
Wake @ LSU
Pitt @ Mizz
SU @ OU
OleMiss @ VT
SC@NCSt
FSU @ Tenn
Texas @ Lville
Bama @ Miami
UK @ UVA
GT @ MissSt
Stanford @ A&M
Vandy @ NDhttps://t.co/CH4tXkiAal— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 5, 2026
It’s a road trip with a clear historical edge. The Tar Heels hold an 8-3 all-time record against Arkansas and have won five straight meetings between the two programs.
The most recent came in November 2023 at the Battle 4 Atlantis, where North Carolina pulled away for an 87-72 win in the third-place game.
The Razorbacks haven’t beaten the Tar Heels since a Final Four showdown in the 1995 NCAA Tournament, when Arkansas knocked off North Carolina 75-68 to punch its ticket to a second straight national championship game.
That win remains one of the more memorable moments in program history.
This will be the 12th all-time meeting between these two schools and, notably, the first to take place at either team’s home court.
The only game ever played in the state of Arkansas came way back in 1984, when the Hogs hosted the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels — and a young Michael Jordan — at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Charles Balentine’s last-second baseline runner with four seconds left gave Arkansas a 65-64 upset.
It’ll also be just the second time the Razorbacks have played away from Fayetteville in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Arkansas enters this year’s matchup with a perfect 3-0 record in the event and hasn’t dropped a game since the challenge launched. Next season marks the fourth edition of the SEC/ACC Challenge overall.
John Calipari’s Hogs beat Miami 76-73 on the road in his first season at the helm, then topped Duke 80-75 in 2023 and handled Louisville 89-80 last year, all wins that helped build the program’s unblemished Challenge record.
The North Carolina game rounds out what’s shaping up to be a demanding non-conference stretch for Arkansas in the 2026-27 season.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Razorbacks will travel to Phoenix on Dec. 19 to face Arizona in a rematch of this past season’s Sweet 16 meeting.
That game is set for Mortgage Matchup Center as part of the Naismith Hall of Fame Series and is the first in a multi-year agreement that includes a home-and-home over each of the following two seasons, with an option for a fourth game in 2029-30.
Arkansas is also headed to Detroit on Thanksgiving to face Michigan State, the second meeting in a three-game series after the Hogs fell to the Spartans 69-66 in Breslin Center last season.
Calipari has confirmed that Michigan State will eventually make the trip to Bud Walton Arena at a date yet to be determined.
Three marquee non-conference dates now locked in for the Hogs with games against North Carolina, Arizona and Michigan State. The non-conference portion of the schedule is already stacking up as one of the tougher slates in the country heading into next season.
Report says Schaefer entering portal after one season with Razorbacks
A promising freshman is leaving Dave Van Horn’s roster, as infielder/outfielder Landon Schaefer has entered the transfer portal, a source confirmed with HawgBeat’s Daniel Fair on Friday.
Schaefer, from Fayetteville, came to the Razorbacks with a solid recruiting profile behind him.
Perfect Game ranked him as the No. 70 overall prospect and the No. 31 shortstop nationally in the class of 2025, while also tabbing him the top overall player and top shortstop in the state of Arkansas.
Prep Baseball Report was equally high on him, slotting Schaefer at No. 78 overall and No. 26 among shortstops in the country while also naming him Arkansas’ top prospect.
He wasn’t just a highly rated high school player — he was also a legitimate pro prospect.
MLB Pipeline had him at No. 125 among all draft-eligible players, and Baseball America listed him at No. 138 overall.
The Philadelphia Phillies were sold enough to select him in the 20th round — No. 611 overall — in the 2025 MLB Draft, but Schaefer chose college over pro ball and headed home to play for the Hogs.
His time in Fayetteville didn’t produce many at-bats. Schaefer got into eight games for the Razorbacks, earning one start in right field against Northern Colorado on March 17.
Over five plate appearances, he didn’t record a hit but drew two walks and struck out twice. He did contribute on the bases, though, scoring three runs and stealing a pair of bags.
Schaefer’s family connection to college athletics runs deep.
His father, Todd, served eight seasons on the Arkansas staff from 2017 through 2024 before moving on to become an assistant coach with the Missouri women’s basketball program.
He’s also a decorated amateur résumé holder beyond the scouting rankings. Schaefer participated in the 2024 Area Code Games and earned Perfect Game Preseason All-American recognition at the Southeast All-Region level in multiple years.
He picked up first-team honors in 2025 and a pair of second-team nods in 2022 and 2023.
With his departure, Schaefer becomes the fifth player to enter the transfer portal from Arkansas this offseason cycle, adding to what’s been an active period of roster turnover for Van Horn’s program.
Hogs get home game in SEC/ACC Challenge after last year’s road loss to SMU
women’s basketball will host Wake Forest on Dec. 3 in the 2026 SEC/ACC Women’s Challenge, the league announced Thursday.
It’ll be a home game for the Razorbacks, who carry a 2-1 record in the event heading into their fourth appearance.
The Demon Deacons come in off a 14-18 season in which they went 4-14 in ACC play.
Wake Forest did earn a Women’s NIT bid but dropped a first-round contest to Maryland-Eastern Shore 59-48, ending the year on a losing note.
The two programs don’t have much history together.
Their lone meeting came at the 2020 Gulf Coast Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., where the Hogs put up 98 points and won comfortably, 98-82.
Wake Forest’s experience in the Challenge is equally limited. The Demon Deacons took part in just the inaugural 2023 edition, hosting Texas A&M but falling 81-57 in that matchup.
Arkansas in the SEC/ACC Women’s Challenge
The Razorbacks have built a solid book in this event. It started with a road win in 2023, when Arkansas went into Tallahassee and topped then-No. 15 Florida State 71-58.
The Hogs followed that with a home victory over Boston College on Dec. 5, 2024, winning 75-64 at Fayetteville.
The only blemish came last season.
Arkansas traveled to Dallas to face SMU on Dec. 4, 2025 and dropped a 78-63 decision, their first loss in Challenge play.
That puts the program at 2-1 going into the Dec. 3 home game against Wake Forest, a chance to get back to even on the road and move above .500 in the series overall.
Playing in front of a home crowd at Bud Walton Arena gives Arkansas a built-in edge it didn’t have in that SMU loss.
The 2026-27 schedule is still taking shape, but the Challenge date is now locked in.
It’s one of the earlier marquee non-conference matchups fans can circle on the calendar heading into the new season.
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DJ Gasso leaving Razorbacks to become Tulsa’s head coach
Winning big comes with a price.
For Courtney Deifel and the Arkansas softball program, that bill is coming due before the offseason’s even had time to settle and it starts with losing hitting coach DJ Gasso.
Reports surfaced Thursday that Gasso is set to be named the new head coach at Tulsa, departing Fayetteville after playing a central role in the Razorbacks’ first-ever trip to the Women’s College World Series.
It’s the kind of problem that comes with building something special. The Hogs built exactly that this past season.
Gasso’s name carries serious weight in the softball world. He’s a legacy coach and has been around national championship teams. Deifel probably wanted that around and he apparently was a big key.
He’s the son of Patty Gasso, the Oklahoma legend who won eight national championships and stands as one of the most celebrated coaches the sport has ever produced.
Brother JT and father Jim are also in coaching, making the Gasso name synonymous with the game at a lofty level. It’s never a bad sign for a coach do be surrounded by assistants with a winning pedigree.
Before joining that family coaching tree, DJ played college baseball at Bradley University, Hutchinson Community College and Central Oklahoma. When he turned to coaching, he made stops at Utah before landing in Fayetteville, where his reputation grew fast.
Over three seasons with Arkansas, Gasso helped turn the Razorbacks into one of the nation’s most dangerous offenses.
The Hogs set multiple program records under his watch, none bigger than this past season’s school-record 26 run-rule victories. The Hogs could hit … really hit.
He also helped develop some of the program’s best individual talent, including 2025 National Player of the Year Bri Ellis, an All-American who thrived in his system.
For Tulsa, landing someone with Gasso’s SEC-level experience and offensive track record is a significant hire. He arrives with proven credentials and a last name that carries instant credibility throughout college softball.
For Deifel, it means heading into the offseason with a key vacancy to fill on a staff that just reached the sport’s biggest stage. That’s the reality of reaching the Women’s College World Series.
That usually attracts the attention for job openings and the people who helped build it don’t always stay.
Deifel probably knew that. She’d likely take it again if it helps get the Hogs to Oklahoma City.
