Arkansas (22-14, 8-10 SEC)

After a run to the Sweet 16 following a middling regular season, the No. 14 Razorbacks enter the second year of the John Calipari era having to replace their top three scorers from last season. Calipari reloaded with a highly-rated freshman recruiting class and the Razorbacks picked up a pair of all-conference big men from the portal to bolster a frontcourt that was outrebounded in league play more often than not last season.

Players to watch

Darius Acuff (freshman, G, 6-2). Acuff is the star recruit of Calipari’s 2025 class. He should step into the point guard role that Boogie Fland handled a year ago before transferring to Florida.

DJ Wagner (junior, G, 6-4, 11.2 ppg). Wagner is the only returner who averaged double-figure scoring last season. His experience playing both point and off guard should help bring Acuff and fellow freshman Meleek Thomas along.

Trevon Brazile (senior, F, 6-10, 6.8 ppg). Brazile’s points-per-game totals belie his importance. He was the team’s best player in the late-season run the Razorbacks needed just to make the NCAA Tournament.

Departures and arrivals

Fland is gone, and top scorer Adou Thiero was lost to the NBA.

Acuff and Thomas were both McDonald’s All-Americans last season in high school, while 6-foot-7 guard Isaiah Sealy ranked in the top 100. They’re joined in the frontcourt by Florida State transfer Malique Ewin (6-11, senior, C, 14.2 ppg) and longtime SEC veteran Nick Pringle (6-10, senior, F, 9.5 ppg), who played two seasons at Alabama before playing last year at South Carolina.

Top games

The Razorbacks have five ranked opponents during non-conference play. Texas Tech, the team that knocked the Razorbacks out the NCAA Tournament last year is one of them. They will league play against No. 18 Tennessee at home on Jan. 3. Calipari will face his old Kentucky team in Fayetteville on Jan. 30. And Arkansas travels to defending national champion Florida during the stretch run, Feb. 28.

Facts and figures

Not only have the Razorbacks started the last two years of SEC play at 1-6, but before that they went 1-5, 0-3 and 1-4. Still, Arkansas has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in four of those five seasons, reaching the Sweet 16 all four times. … Arkansas will play 19 games against teams that made the Big Dance last year, including all four Final Four teams in Duke, Michigan State, Houston and Auburn.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The ongoing federal government shutdown is impacting funding for programs like SNAP, and organizations like the Arkansas Foodbank are preparing for a surge in those needing support.

“SNAP is a critical program that helps ensure families all across our state have access to nutritious foods, and even a brief disruption is problematic,” DHS Secretary Janet Mann said in a statement. “Arkansans have a history of coming together to help each other in difficult times. Please check on friends, family, and neighbors and donate time or money to food banks if you are able.”

The Arkansas Foodbank supports 400 partner pantries from urban centers to rural towns. Marketing and Communications Director Sarah Jenkins said they’re rolling out toolkits to help them meet the surge, everything from extra fundraising to extended distribution hours.

“If we made everyone come to Little Rock to go to a mobile distribution, we wouldn’t be able to meet the need, that’s why we’re pushing everyone out to our 400 partner agencies,” Jenkins said.

The Arkansas DHS said it is awaiting additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP. The USDA announced it will not issue November benefits unless the federal government reopens, after the Trump administration declined to release $5 billion in contingency funds that would have extended the program.

SNAP, which helps one in eight Americans buy groceries, is a lifeline that also extends to the 240,000 recipients across Arkansas, where food insecurity is among the worst in the nation.

“For every one meal that we can provide, SNAP provides nine,” Jenkins said.  SNAP is also great because it provides dignity to the people using it.”

The organization says it’s ready for the short term, but cannot fill the federal gap alone for a state where one in four children does not have reliable access to food.

“We do have to have both community support but also government support,” Jenkins said. “The government has to reopen to support the neighbors that we serve, so we don’t have a timeline on what we can do.”

Last year, the food bank distributed more than 41 million pounds of food, but with SNAP halted, they say every donation counts.

For updates, Arkansans can visit the DHS SNAP website at HumanServices.Arkansas.gov.