Preview: Louisville's ACC/SEC Challenge Matchup at Arkansas

The Louisville men's basketball has no shortage of storylines for their next matchup. Following a few extra days off, the Cardinals are now set for their first true road game of the 2025-26 season, taking on John Calipari, Kenny Payne and the Arkansas Razorbacks in the annual ACC/SEC Challenge.

Louisville off to their off to their longest undefeated start to a season since opening up the 2019-29 campaign at 9-0, sporting a clean sheet through seven games. Last week, the Cards thoroughly outclassed both Eastern Michigan and NJIT, defeating them by a combined 98 points. So far, UofL has an average margin of victory of 33.7 points.

As for the Razorbacks, it has been an up-and-down start to their season. They're 5-0 against teams that are ranked sub-100 in the KenPom ratings, but are 0-2 against the two best teams they have face. They fell 69-66 at Michigan State, and most recently dropped an 80-71 decision to Duke in the CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic.

This will be the ninth all-time meeting between the two, with the series dead even at 4-4. The Razorbacks took the previous meeting, blasting the Cardinals 80-54 back on Nov. 21, 2022 in the Maui Invitational. Additionally, Calipari is 19-8 all-time against Louisville in his stints at UMass (2-0), Memphis (4-5) and Kentucky (13-3).

It will also be Louisville's first time going against Payne, their former head coach, since his firing. Payne went 12-52 during his two years as the Cardinals' head coach.

No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (7-0, 0-0 ACC) at No. 25 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2, 0-0 ACC)

• Date/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7:15 p.m. EST
• Place: Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
• TV: ESPN - Play-by-play and analyst TBD.
• Channel (Louisville)/Live Stream: Spectrum: 31; Dish: 140; DirecTV: 206.
• Radio (Louisville): 93.9 FM - Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst).