FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach John Calipari threw his young team to the wolves against No. 8 Baylor. Baylor was coming off of a 101-63 loss against No. 6 Gonzaga and was seeking to atone for getting blown out on national television.
“[Gonzaga coach] Mark Few and I talked,” Calipari said. “I said, ‘Well, thanks. I appreciate you doing that. So now I’ve got to play them.’ We knew they were going to be alert. They lost that game and now they’re coming back here, they played good.”
Arkansas, Baylor and Gonzaga are part of a small group of ranked teams that decided to test themselves early against another ranked foe. The Razorbacks are just one of seven teams to take on such a challenge this early in the season.
“The teams you’re trying to compete with are like this team [or] like a Kansas,” Calipari said. “These kind of people that we’re playing, and then playing them away from our building is important too. To, okay, you don’t have the home crowd riding you, can we come together and do this?”
The last time that Arkansas opted to challenge itself with a ranked opponent within the first two games of a season was the 2009-10 year under John Pelphrey when Arkansas took on No. 20 Louisville.
Arkansas will likely not play another ranked opponent until the CBS Thanksgiving Day Game against Illinois, who is currently the first team out of the Top 25. The next game against Troy will provide the toughest challenge until the marquee game in Kansas City. The Troy Trojans are 2-0 with wins over Toledo and New Orleans and are ranked just outside the Top 100 in the KenPom rankings.
Tipoff between the Trojans and the Hogs is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday from Bud Walton Arena. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.
Stuttgart, circa 1910: Mae and Ted Barnhart posed with their dog, the only one who seemed happy for the camera. Theodore Barnhart, born 1906, grew up to serve in the Navy during World War II, dying in 1952. Ted’s sister, Mae, born 1903 and passing in 1994, grew up to marry Charles Henry Dobbs.
Send questions or comments to Arkansas Postcard Past, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203
Kentucky had a need at wide receiver entering the only transfer portal window of the offseason. The Wildcats addressed the position again on Day 10. UK has added a second transfer to the room. This is a familiar name to those who follow recruiting.
Arkansas transfer Ja’Kayden Ferguson committed to the Wildcats after his visit to Lexington over the weekend. The wide receiver was a former UK commit who flipped to the Hogs during the 2025 recruiting cycle. Now Ferguson has flipped back to the Big Blue.
Ja’Kayden Ferguson was a three-star recruit out of Metro Houston who picked Kentucky following a June official visit ahead of the 2024 season. However, Ferguson decided to open up his recruitment five months later and flipped to Arkansas. The 6-foot-2 receiver appeared in six games for the Razorbacks as a true freshman and burned his redshirt. Ferguson played just 20 offensive snaps.
The SEC transfer becomes the eighth current full-time scholarship player in Kentucky’s current wide receivers room. Some more additions are expected.
| Player | Position | High School | Former School | Year |
| Olaus Alinen | G/T (6-6, 322) | Windson (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School | Alabama | Redshirt Junior |
| Jesse Anderson | S (6-0, 180) | Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons | Pittsburgh | Redshirt Junior |
| Max Anderson | iOL (6-5, 311) | Frisco (Texas) High | Tennessee | Redshirt Sophomore |
| Elijah “Bo” Barnes | LB (6-1, 244) | Dallas (Texas) Skyline | Texas | Redshirt Freshman |
| Jovantae Barnes | RB (6-0, 211) | Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines | Oklahoma | Redshirt Senior |
| Ahmad Breaux | iDL (6-3, 278) | Ruston (La.) High | LSU | Junior |
| Jordan Castell | S (6-2, 213) | Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange | Florida | Senior |
| Xavier Daisy | WR (6-3, 210) | Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian School | UAB | Junior |
| Ja’Kayden Ferguson | WR (6-2, 187) | Missouri City (Texas) Thurgood Marshall | Arkansas | Sophomore |
| Aaron Gates | Nickel (6-0, 198) | Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian | Florida | Redshirt Junior |
| Jamarrion Harkless | iDL (6-3, 315) | Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass | Purdue | Redshirt Junior |
| Lance Heard | T (6-6, 330) | Monroe (La.) Neville | LSU | Tennessee | Senior |
| Mark Manfred III | CB (6-1, 175) | Marietta (Ga.) Sprayberry | Missouri | Redshirt Freshman |
| Kenny Minchey | QB (6-2, 208) | Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II | Notre Dame | Redshirt Junior |
| Antonio O’Berry | EDGE (6-6, 240) | Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne | Tiffin (D-II) | Gardner-Webb | 6th-Year Senior |
| Coleton Price | iOL (6-3, 318) | Bowie (Texas) High | Baylor | Redshirt Senior |
| Spencer Radnoti | LS (6-3, 230) | Canton (Ga.) Cherokee | Georgia State | Redshirt Sophomore |
| Cyrus Reyes | S (6-1, 200) | Taylor (Texas) High | Mississippi State | Junior |
| Hasaan Sykes | CB (6-0, 185) | Tuckert (Ga.) High | Western Carolina | Junior |
| Tavion Wallace | LB (6-1, 239) | Baxley (Ga.) Appling County | Arkansas | Sophomore |
| Dominic Wiseman | iDL (6-2, 300) | Davenport (Iowa) High | South Alabama | Redshirt Senior |
| Adam Zouagui | K (5-11, 188) | Herndon (Va.) High | Davidson | South Florida | Senior |
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