Gonzaga coming to Razorbacks, but with minor stipulation
FAYETTEVILLE — There was no press release from either school, and when Arkansas head coach John Calipari said it at the very tail end of an interview with Pig Trail Nation following one of the many satellite youth camps the Hogs have hosted across the state recently, it came off as if it almost slipped out.
“We’re bringing Gonzaga in as an exhibition,” Calipari said after an extensive breakdown of why the Hogs aren’t playing big teams at home like was originally planned. “I’m trying to think who the other exhibition is. I can’t remember.”
That’s right. Other than the North Carolina game that was forced upon him by the SEC, Arkansas no longer has a marquee non-conference game at Bud Walton this season after Calipari agreed to give Michigan State a second consecutive home game, this time an hour down the road in Detroit, because, for some reason that game could be played on Thanksgiving, but if it took place at Bud Walton, it couldn’t.
“I was on the phone today and we’re looking to bring one more team to our place,” Calipari said. “The Michigan State game, understand, yeah, it was at home this year. But now we’re playing them on Thanksgiving which will be the highest rated television game of the year, not close, and that’s good for our kids’ NIL. You’ve got to think of more than just that.”
So, in an effort to make up for a game that will do huge ratings and be big for NIL if it’s in Michigan, but not at Bud Walton, Kansas City, Memphis or Dallas, Arkansas will bring Mark Few and a Gonzaga roster that looks like it will be elite by season’s end for a preseason frolic. The bad news is it’s a preseason battle that will mean nothing once the final whistle blows.
The good news is Razorbacks fans usually don’t care. They will be so desperate for a quality game in Bud Walton, they will end up doing what they always do in these situations — pretend they are somehow hosting the national championship game.
A lot of people forget the Purdue game a few years back where Arkansas took down the nation’s eventual No. 1 team was an exhibition. It didn’t even affect Purdue’s ranking.
As far as atmosphere goes, it might have been a dead tie between the preseason 81-75 overtime win against No. 3 Purdue and the 80-75 win a few weeks later in the regular season against No. 7 Duke in a perfectly executed white-out. The magic of Bud Walton that Calipari is so desperate to underutilize handed one of the worst Arkansas teams in school history, especially in the attitude department, a pair of Top 10 wins over a Duke team that made the Elite 8 and a Purdue team that lost to UConn in the national championship game.
This will be the first time Arkansas and Gonzaga have played since Eric Musselman’s Hogs took down overall No. 1 Gonzaga and it’s college all-star team to advance to a second consecutive Elite 8 in 2022.
Without a formal press release, there is no official date, nor time. However, a quick glimpse of the football schedule shows an open date on Oct. 24 that would make the most sense.
If former head coach Sam Pittman were still coaching, then it wouldn’t matter when the game took place. In fact, he might would even push for a Halloween themed super weekend where the football team plays Missouri at 11 a.m. followed by the basketball game at 3 p.m. to try to beef up attendance.
However, with new head coach Ryan Silverfield, Calipari will likely be careful to not overshadow his fresh new counterpart. No need in driving the narrative fully onto basketball in November when fan support at Arkansas is often hard to come by on the gridiron.
As for the other exhibition game, expect some Division II school no one can identify.
Calipari racked his brain, but couldn’t recall the name of the team, so it’s way more likely Alaska Fairbanks gets fed to the Razorbacks’ new crop of elite freshmen than a homecoming for Eric Musselman as he returns to Fayetteville with a ranked USC team.
Just like the roster, the schedule is still a work in progress. Calipari will accidentally let everyone know when he is ready.
Until then, enjoy the pageantry of the United Bowl featuring 50 Cent, the beginning of the World Cup and how people from other countries react to American stadiums and also the NBA Finals. That should pass at least a little time before things get going in October.
