Louisville basketball reportedly drew a juicy matchup in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge.
According to a report Wednesday from Jon Rothstein for College Hoops Today, it’ll be Pat Kelsey‘s Cardinals against John Calipari and Kenny Payne‘s Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena.
Rothstein’s report did not include a date and time for the game.
Calipari lost to U of L only three times during his 15 seasons at archrival Kentucky. When he took over the Razorbacks last spring, he hired Payne as his associate head coach. The Cards fired Payne after going 12-52 across his two seasons at the helm.
This will be U of L’s second appearance in the annual showdown between conferences. In Year 1 of the Kelsey era, the Cards lost to Ole Miss, 86-63, at the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville’s lopsided defeat was one of 14 the ACC suffered in last year’s event. If the conference is to make a return to form in 2025-26, it needs to fare much better than that.
The Cards have confirmed the dates of the following 2025-26 nonconference games:
- vs. Kentucky: Nov. 11
- vs. Memphis: Dec. 13
- at Tennessee: Dec. 16
U of L will also reportedly play neutral-site games against cross-state rivals Indiana (Dec. 6) and Cincinnati (TBA). The former will be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and the latter will be at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball schedule: UofL vs Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge