The John Calipari era in Fayetteville is wasting no time setting the tone in the head coach’s second season with the Arkansas Razorbacks. On Friday, college basketball analyst JC Hoops unveiled Arkansas’ non-conference schedule for the 2025 season. By the looks of it, it’s reading more like an NCAA Tournament bracket than just league games.
Calipari’s task is cut out with his Arkansas set to play the following teams in “absolutely stacked” non-conference matchups:
- Duke (in Chicago)
- Louisville
- Houston (in New York City)
- Baylor
- at Michigan State
- Texas Tech (in Dallas)
Notably, Arkansas will face every member of the 2025 Elite Eight. Some of the headline games that fan needs to keep an eye on include a clash with blue blood Duke, a heavyweight showdown against Houston in the Big Apple and a road test against Tom Izzo’s Michigan State squad in East Lansing.
Arkansas’ non-conference matchups:
– Duke (Chicago)
– Louisville
– Houston (New York)
– Baylor
– @ Michigan State
– Texas Tech (Dallas)Absolutely stacked. https://t.co/6svbdpEBVu
— JC Hoops (@JacksonCollier) June 20, 2025
In another update, Calipari confirmed that the Razorbacks will play Texas Tech in Dallas at a leadership event at Crystal Bridges.
How did John Calipari do in His First Year Leading Arkansas?
Ahead of last season, John Calipari announced his departure from Kentucky, where he served as head coach for 15 seasons. He was hired as the Razorbacks’ head coach, and the legendary head coach led the program to a 22–14 overall record, going 8–10 in SEC play, landing ninth in the conference. It was a commendable comeback from Calipari & Co. since they lost the first six SEC games to start the season.
Calipari’s squad ranked 20th on the Final AP Poll and 25th on the Coaches Poll. For the NCAA Tournament, they landed the No. 10 seed.
Offensively, they averaged 76.8 points per game (95th in Division I), allowing 71.4 points defensively (156th).
Calipari’s Razorbacks came bright and good in the early part of the tournament, pulling off upsets against No. 7 seed Kansas and No. 2 seed St. John’s on their way to the Sweet Sixteen. However, Texas Tech took them down in overtime to end Calipari’s first year in Arizona.
One of the standout moments for Calipari to look back on would be the win against Kentucky in Rupp Arena.
Calipari’s presence uplifted the program’s NIL budget to $5 million, fueled by major donor support such as Tyson Foods’ John H. Tyson. As such, good things are expected to come in Fayetteville with Calipari leading the charge.
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