Arkansas to play Michigan in Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, per report

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reports that Arkansas will face Michigan at the 2024 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Get ready for Arkansas vs. Michigan at The Mecca.

According to a report Thursday from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, the Razorbacks and new coach John Calipari will face the Wolverines at Madison Square Garden in the annual Jimmy V Classic. Rothstein reports that Tennessee and Miami will also face each other in the event.

Arkansas and Michigan are two programs with a lot of storied tradition on the court. They both won national championships in the late 80s/early 90s — Arkansas under the legendary Nolan Richardson in 1994 and Michigan under Steve Fisher in 1989.

Both Calipari and Michigan coach Dusty May are entering their first seasons at the helm of new programs. Calipari was officially named Arkansas head coach on April 10 after a 15-year run at Kentucky. May left Florida Atlantic to become Michigan’s coach in March after leading the Owls to the Final Four in 2022.

North Carolina faced UConn in the Jimmy V Classic last season. May’s Florida Atlantic team faced Illinois. Duke, Texas, Villanova and Syracuse are among the most recent programs that have played in the event, named in honor of famed men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano.

No official date has been given for the 2024 Jimmy V Classic, but the event has been held during the first week of December for many years. It is televised annually by ESPN.

Calipari said at the SEC meetings in Florida on Wednesday that he hoped to play at Madison Square Garden this season.

RELATED: John Calipari teases Arkansas’ non-conference schedule at SEC meetings

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Molina no-hits Michigan in five, Ks 10 to lead Diamond Hogs

Molina has 19 strikeouts now in his first two games as an Arkansas pitcher.

Mason Molina may be the best No. 3 starter in the country.

Arkansas’ left-hander led the No. 2 Razorbacks to a 4-3 win over Michigan on Sunday in the College Baseball Classic by striking out 10 Wolverines hitters and no-hitting the lineup through five innings.

Molina, in his first season with the Diamond Hogs after transferring from Texas Tech, faced 17 batters and threw 81 pitches in his five innings of work. The only thing Michigan managed to do against him was draw a walk and get hit by a pitch.

Those exact two results on Arkansas’ side provided Molina with a 3-0 edge as he entered his fourth inning. Will Edmunson was plunked with the bases loaded and Kendall Diggs walked with them full, as well. That came after Ben McLaughlin opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first.

Michigan pulled one run back in the eighth and another two in the ninth to make things interesting. But Arkansas closer Koty Frank induced a flyball out with the bases loaded to end things.

McLaughlin and Jared Sprague-Lott each had two hits for Arkansas, which only registered five as a team overall. Diggs had the other.

Arkansas gets Monday off before Grambling visits Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday for a one-off game.

Arkansas baseball vs. Michigan: How to watch, stream, listen

The Diamond Hogs are looking to bounce back after yesterday’s loss.

With a 1-1 weekend so far, the Arkansas baseball team is looking to exit Arlington, Texas, and the College Baseball Classic as winners.

To do so, the Diamond Hogs will have to beat Michigan when the two teams square off at 1 p.m. in the finale for No. 2 Arkansas. Coach Dave Van Horn’s team beat Oregon State on Friday and fell to Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Michigan and Arkansas aren’t terribly familiar on the diamond. It’s only been in recent years, actually, that teams from the Big Ten began to compete at a similar level as those in conferences like the SEC. Even still, the Big Ten doesn’t have the depth of the SEC.

That means Arkansas is favored to knock off the Wolverines from Globe Life. Michigan was projected to finish sixth in the Big Ten, a league that had just one team ranked at all in the preseason.

The game is the final that Diamond Hogs fans will have to watch through FloSports, as well. Here’s how you can catch the action.