With Countdown On, Hogs Fans Should Keep Kansas Game in Perspectives

Several potential take aways from Arkansas game with Jayhawks, though final score not one

Arkansas guard Davonte Davis drives to the basket against Kansas guard Gradey Dick during an NCAA men s basketball tournament second round basketball game on Saturday, March 18, 2023, at Wells Fargo Arena, in Des Moines, Iowa. / Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Arkansas kicks off against Tennessee Saturday night, it will be 20 days pretty much to the hour until the Razorbacks basketball team gets its season rolling with a meaningless, yet interesting, game against projected No. 1 Kansas.

Yes, there is value in the game. Hogs' coach John Calipari will get his first game day type experience in Bud Walton from the home team's perspective and he will get to see his team against someone other than itself. However. Arkansas fans should be well versed in not putting any stock in the game beyond that.

Last season, Purdue came into Fayetteville in a situation similar to where Kansas finds itself. The Boilermakers were a potential tournament favorite.

What they walked into was an NCAA Tournament atmosphere for a simple exhibition game. When it was over the Razorbacks came away with an 81-77 overtime win seen across the state on streaming.

It provided false hope that 2024, three decades after Arkansas won its only fully recognized major sport national championship under Nolan Richardson, it would once again be the year of the Hog. It certainly wasn't.

Instead, fans watched in frustrating as a team talented enough to take down the likes of Purdue and Duke embarrassed the program and the state with pettiness and lackluster effort. By season's end, Arkansas put up one of the worst records in school history and athletics director Hunter Yurachek was trolling the winningest Razorbacks basketball coach this century as Eric Musselman floundered trying to find any way he could out of Fayetteville.

Of course, Arkansas has been on the opposite side of these big preseason games also. In 2022, the Hogs opened the new Moody Center at Texas and promptly got plastered by the Longhorns, 90-60.

Later that year the Razorbacks took down No. 1 Kansas in the NCAA Tournament en route to a third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance in the infamous Devonte Davis heart game that was finished off by Ricky Council after Davis ran out of fouls and gas.

It took a pair of Elite 8 appearances to help land the Texas and Purdue exhibition games and it's been the respect Calipari brings as a coach that continues to keep Arkansas respected enough to land another premier exhibition game with Kansas. If anything, that's the one and only big take away that should come from the Oct. 25 game in Bud Walton.

Beyond that, it's just a celebration that basketball season is finally here, as will be cooler weather and the beginning of the holiday season. All three strong reasons for the people of Arkansas to smile regardless of the final outcome of a score that has zero meaning or direct impact on the upcoming highly anticipated season.

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• Quarterback dominoes for 2025 Hogs may have already started to fall

• Texas cornerback makes return visit to Hogs for big recruiting weekend

• Visit Primer: Hogs' set to host top 10 prospect this weekend

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