Report: Razorback assistant to face former team in SEC, ACC Challenge

It will be the first time since 2023 that the two teams will meet since the first round of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii where the Hogs won 80-54.

Associate head coach Kenny Payne will be facing against his former team, spending two years as the head coach for the Cardinals, his first head coaching job.

Payne was the head coach at the time when the two teams met in 2023 and was let go after a combined record of 12-52 across the two seasons, including a 4-28 record in his first season, the worst in school history.

He worked under Calipari at Kentucky from 2010-2020. He then rejoined Calipari for his first season at Arkansas.

Payne was subsequently fired and replaced by Pat Kelsey at Louisville and took the Cardinals to its first NCAA Tournament since 2019 and won 27 games, including an 18-2 record in the ACC. The Cardinals lost in the first round of the tournnament to the Creighton Bluejays.

The two teams split the previous eight meetings all-time. Louisville and Arkansas faced each other four straight times in the span of 10 seasons with the Razorbacks winning in 1979 and 1981 before the Razorbacks won in 1983 and 1989.

The SEC/ACC Challenge has been good to the Razorbacks. The Hogs have gone undefeated in the first two editions with Arkansas picking up a marquee win over top 10 Duke in 2023 inside Bud Walton Arena before beating Miami on the road last year.

The ACC looks to rebound in 2025 after the SEC won 14 of the 16 games last year.

The Razorbacks non-conference schedule is starting to take shape. Earlier this week, a matchup at the Barclays Center in New York between the Hogs and defending national finalist Houston Cougars.

This follows a previously confirmed matchup in Chicago against Duke on Thanksgiving Day. It's the second straight year that the Hogs have played on Thanksgiving and a game in New York.

The top matchup among the other matchups is Duke and Florida. Both teams made the Final Four last year with the Gators winning their first national title since winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

Other tidbits of the schedule are also slowly starting to drip out. The Razorbacks will once again only face Kentucky, the former home of Calipari for 15 years, this time at Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks won the first matchup between Arkansas and Kentucky at Rupp Arena in Calipari's return to his former home arena, 82-75, turning their fortunes around and eventually making a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament.

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