Arkansas
Cody Rhodes uses Arkansas-Pine Bluff marching band to fuel his WWE title defense
Though the Arkansas Razorbacks won on the field against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the Golden Lions’ band won the fans in the stands.
On Thursday, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff band — named the “Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South” — performed a rendition of WWE star Cody Rhodes’ theme song, “Kingdom,” during the game.
Rhodes fought Kevin Owens in the undisputed WWE title match at the Bash in Berlin on Saturday. Rhodes defeated Owens to remain the undisputed WWE champion. Prior to his match, Rhodes heard the band’s rendition of his theme song and expressed his excitement about the performance. He said he would play the band’s version once or twice in the locker room.
Berlin had me already fired up for #WWEBash
But THIS may be played once or twice in the locker room before my match today.
Awesome stuff @UAPBM4 ❤️ https://t.co/cYA5lcG8Lw
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) August 31, 2024 The band’s full performance went viral on X and received over 866,000 views as of Saturday evening. Arkansas-Pine Bluff director of bands John Graham said the band members were doubtful at first once they received the piece in practice. But as they rehearsed the song, they began to love it.
“When our arranger put the song on paper for us, I looked at it [and] some of the students were shaking their heads thinking, ‘No, why are we playing this’ and then we started rehearsing it, the piece came alive,” Graham told ESPN.
“I said, ‘This is going to go.’”
“Kingdom” wasn’t arranged for the Golden Lions-Razorbacks game, but instead as a piece that could be used later in the season. However, Graham saw the Arkansas game as the perfect opportunity to debut the song in the stands.
When Graham gave the downbeat for the band to play the song, excitement filled the stadium. “As soon as I dropped the hammer and we started playing, I looked over and saw fans reacting like, ‘They’re playing “Kingdom,”‘” Graham said. “I saw them standing up with excitement and positive reactions, and I told myself, ‘We’re in here now.’ It was a beautiful moment.”
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. scored a career-high 29 points, including a key 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the second half, to help No. 18 Arkansas to an 86-75 win over No. 19 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams on Saturday.
Arkansas (11-3) used a 18-5 run over a 6-minute, 37-second span midway through the second half to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 5:40 left. Tennessee shot just 2 for 10 from the field during Arkansas’ run, missing eight shots in a row before finally scoring.
The Volunteers (10-4) took advantage of an Arkansas cold shooting spell — the Razorbacks picked up 12 of their 18 points during the run from the free-throw line — to close within two points with under four minutes to play. Acuff made a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:09 remaining to give the Razorbacks a 79-68 lead.
Tennessee shot 49% from the field and was outscored at the line, going 12 for 23 while Arkansas shot 29 for 33.
Acuff was the only Arkansas player to shoot better than 50% from the floor, going 9 for 16. The Razorbacks shot 42% overall. Acuff was joined in double-digit scoring by Meleek Thomas, who scored 18 points. Malique Ewin added 12 points and Karter Knox 11.
Amari Evans’ 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting led three Tennessee players in double figures.
Arkansas won its opening SEC game for the first time since the 2020-21 season. The Razorbacks have reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in four of the five seasons since and made two Elite Eight appearances.
Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas (1) shoots over Tennessee defenders Ja’Kobi Gillespie, left, and Felix Okpara, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Fayetteville, Ark. Credit: AP/Michael Woods
Up next
Arkansas: At Ole Miss on Wednesday.
Tennessee: Hosts Texas on Tuesday.
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