With just over three months left until the Arkansas basketball season kicks off, Razorback fans are adopting a forward-looking perspective, especially with the football team forecasted to finish 14th in the SEC.
The Razorbacks are set to bring back a significant portion of last year’s Sweet 16 squad, complemented by a top-five recruiting class and experienced big men acquired through the transfer portal. They are expected to start the season ranked in the top 25 and emerge as serious contenders in the SEC alongside Florida, Kentucky, and Auburn.
However, head coach John Calipari remains modest about the team’s prospects, expressing general satisfaction but refraining from making bold predictions about their success this season. Since joining the program last spring, he has preferred to avoid making specific forecasts regarding the upcoming regular season or postseason.
Last week, though, Calipari made a notable statement to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein about the highly anticipated matchup between Arkansas and Duke in November, suggesting it could be “the highest-rated regular season game in the last decade.”
This significant clash is scheduled for Thanksgiving night, November 27, at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, and will be broadcast in a prime time slot at 7 p.m. CT. This will mark Arkansas’ return to CBS’ Thanksgiving Classic after last year’s captivating matchup against Illinois, which attracted over five million viewers, making it the most popular regular-season game of the year.
Can Arkansas Basketball Make TV History?
Typically, NFL games do not directly influence Arkansas basketball, except for those played right after NFL Thanksgiving Day matchups. The only game since 2008 that surpassed the Arkansas-Illinois game viewership was the Arizona versus Michigan State game during a Thanksgiving matchup last year, which garnered an impressive 5.2 million viewers.
This time around, the challenge will be even greater with a formidable opponent in Duke, which is among the elite basketball programs. Despite losing key players to the NBA, Duke’s coach Jon Scheyer has revitalized the roster with a stellar recruiting class and solid transfers, making them likely to be a top-ranked team again. The combination of the Thanksgiving slot, a high-profile opponent, and both teams’ probable rankings could indeed set the stage for a record-setting viewership event.
