John Calipari, Arkansas Scheduled to Face Kentucky at Rupp Arena in 2024-25 Season

For the first time in 15 years, John Calipari will be entering Rupp Arena as the opposition.

Per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, the new Arkansas head coach will lead his team into Lexington to face Kentucky in the lone matchup between the two schools in the 2024-25 season.

Calipari left Kentucky to take over at Arkansas last month after the Wildcats’ disappointing first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament this past season. The Razorbacks had an opening after Eric Musselman departed to become head coach at USC. Mark Pope was hired to replace Calipari at Kentucky.

Borzello noted that the Wildcats and Razorbacks will look very different under their respective new head coaches, as both teams are returning zero players from last season’s rosters.

Calipari signed three members of the No. 2 recruiting class he initially put together at Kentucky and also landed two transfer players from the Wildcats. The two members of Arkansas’ initial recruiting class opted to follow Musselman out West. Pope retained one player from Kentucky’s recruiting class and added a slew of players through the transfer portal.

While the Kentucky-Arkansas matchup is sure to draw headlines, there are other interesting storylines coming to the SEC. The conference is set to expand to 16 teams with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas this summer. Alabama, which is coming off a run to the Final Four, will enter the year as the favorite to win the conference title.

The official date and time of the Kentucky-Arkansas game and the rest of the SEC schedule will be announced at a later date. Conference play is set to begin on Jan. 4.