Arkansas basketball hasn’t played Memphis since January 3, 2003, after playing every year from 1991 to that season.
A 72-67 loss to John Calipari’s Tigers in that 2003 meeting was the last time the two teams met on the hardwood.
Calipari was quoted as saying at the time that continuing to play Arkansas was keeping them a “regional program” instead of a national program that he envisioned them being.
It couldn’t have been the fact that Arkansas had won five of the previous six meetings and had won important recruiting battles for the previous decade in Memphis.
There is a chance that Arkansas could face Memphis, now coached by legendary former player Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway, in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament next week.
The Razorbacks would need to beat Stanford and have Memphis beat Michigan, or both teams could lose their first game and meet in the consolation bracket.
Apparently, Hardaway and Arkansas coach Eric Musselman have had preliminary talks about resuming a regular season matchup.
Penny: "I think me and Musselman will eventually work that out (playing regular-season games vs. Arkansas)."
— Jason Munz (@munzly) November 16, 2023
Fans would love it, and the players would too.