One Arkansas-Kentucky game in 2025-26? Another SEC masterclass in incompetence
BASKETBALL.One Arkansas-Kentucky game in 2025-26? Another SEC masterclass in incompetence
Another shameful blunder by the SEC leadership
Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari during the first half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the St. John’s Red Storm at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Is it time to start questioning the competency of the leadership in the Southeastern Conference? Because incompetence is the only legitimate reason I can think of that explains why Arkansas and Kentucky will only play once in 2026.
CBS Sports college basketball insider John Rothstein reported that the Hogs and Cats will only play once during the 2025-26 regular season. Luckily, it’ll be in Fayetteville after playing in Rupp Arena earlier this year.
Arkansas to play Kentucky only once for second consecutive season
This is the second consecutive year that the SEC has made this decision. It was perplexing the first time, but repeating the same mistake is borderline malpractice. Six of the top 10 most viewed games on ESPN during the regular season featured an SEC team. One of them was Arkansas’ matchup with Kentucky on February 1. It was the No. 9 watched game of the year for the sports giant, gaining 1,936,000 viewers.
It might seem odd to complain about not playing two games and using viewership numbers to back it, especially when the first one barely made it into the top 10. Firstly, it’s not like the Razorbacks can’t draw their own crowds. In November, the Hogs were a part of the most-viewed regular season game across all platforms against Illinois. The Thanksgiving game averaged 5.1 million viewers, the second-largest regular season basketball audience since 2008.
Secondly, there are two cases where games featuring the same teams were included, and in one instance, the second game turned out to be the most-watched of the season.
Most-predictable game lands at No. 1 for the 2024-25 season
Duke and North Carolina were the No. 1 and No. 3 most-watched games on ESPN in a year where the Tarheels were, well… horrible. Most thought that UNC shouldn’t have even earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Yet, droves of fans gathered around their TVs to watch Duke slaughter UNC, not once, but twice—and more so the second time.
If the most-watched game can be the second mediocre matchup between the second-best team in the country and a team that barely finished with 20 wins, why couldn’t Arkansas and Kentucky draw more the second time as well?
Of course, the most logical reason (although I’d still argue it’s incompetence) is that the SEC is producing the same schedules as last season but flipping the home and away designations. However, that’s not the case either.
Rothstein posted earlier today that Florida—the reigning national champs—will play Kentucky twice. In 2024-25, the two teams only played once. So, for the second season in a row, the SEC intentionally kept John Calipari and the Razorbacks from facing his former employer twice in a season. And would anyone like to guess how many top 10 ESPN games the Gators were a part of during the 2024-25 regular season? If zero was your answer, then you are correct.
Arkansas V. Kentucky rivalry deserves more
Arkansas and Kentucky have been in a budding rivalry since the Wildcats stole Eddy Sutton from the Hogs in 1985. However, excluding the Nolan Richardson era, the Razorbacks haven’t been good enough to take the next step until Eric Musselman came to campus. And now that Arkansas got revenge for the Sutton fiasco, the SEC wants artificially to quell the fire?
It makes no sense. The Wildcats, the Razorbacks, and college basketball fans around the country deserve to watch Kentucky and Arkansas play twice a season every year. And in the process, the league could even make more money, which is what they’re all about, supposedly.
