Drive down Interstate 49 for about 40 miles, then veer east on I-40 for another 270 or so. It’ll take just under five hours in a car.
The drive from the University of Arkansas to the University of Memphis is fairly short and the geographical proximity, which doesn’t mean as much in the modern era, is a big reason the Razorbacks and Tigers have a decent rivalry in basketball.
A rivalry that will be renewed on Thanksgiving when the teams meet in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Bahamas at 4 p.m. in Memphis and Fayetteville time. The Hogs set it up after beating Stanford in double-overtime about a half-hour after the Tigers knocked off Michigan to punch their ticket.
The meeting will be the first since 2002-03. Arkansas lost that meeting, but leads the all-time series, 11-10. From 1992 until 2003, the teams met 14 times, including two meetings in 1994-95 when the Razorbacks followed a one-point win in the regular season with a three-point overtime win in the Sweet Sixteen.
Both programs have changed a lot since. The Tigers were down through a good chunk of the late 2010s, but have made the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years under coach Anfernee Hardaway and have won 20 games in each of his five seasons to this point.
The game would be a sellout were it on the Mississippi River or in the Boston Mountains, but instead, everyone will settle for skipping an afternoon nap to root against an old rival.