Arkansas, Arizona agree to multi-year series starting next season in Phoenix, then home-and-home in 2027, 2028

Cats and Hogs playing together. We saw it during the West Regional semifinals in late March and we'll see it again for the 2026-27 college hoops campaign.

Then in the years to come after that.

Arizona and Arkansas have verbally agreed to a series that will begin next season, sources told CBS Sports. Next season's game will be part of the Naismith Hall of Fame Series and pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars to the programs in exchange for the matchup not being held on campus. The first game will be staged Saturday, Dec. 19, in Phoenix at the Mortgage Matchup Center (home to the Phoenix Suns) as part of the Hall of Fame Series doubleheader that will also include UNLV vs. SMU.

The second game in the Arizona-Arkansas series, in 2027-28, will be played at Arkansas' Bud Walton Arena. In 2028-29, Arkansas will go to Tucson to play Arizona on its home court at the McKale Center. There is an option for a fourth game to be played in 2029-30 closer to Arkansas' territory, but the fate/location of that game will be determined down the road.

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Gary Parrish

These two pertinent programs signing up for a series is the most recent example contributing to what should be another terrific nonconference slate for men's college basketball. Arkansas and Arizona are both ranked in the offseason top 10 of Gary Parrish's Top 25 And 1.

John Calipari and Tommy Lloyd were keen to meet again after Arizona defeated Arkansas 109-88 in the Sweet 16 on its way to last season's Final Four, the program's first in 25 years. Credit to Calipari for not dismissing the concept outright: Lloyd's Wildcats took advantage of Arkansas and had one of the best Sweet 16 games by any team -- ever. U of A's 63.7% shooting was the second-highest success rate in a regional semifinal since 2000, and Arizona making at least 60% of its shots, 60% of its 3-point attempts to go along with 30 made foul shots marked the first time that had ever happened in an NCAA Tournament game.

Arizona also had six players score at least 14 points, an NCAA Tournament first.

A lot of the players from that game will be gone, most notably soon-to-be 2026 NBA picks Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Meleek Thomas (Arkansas), Brayden Burries (Arizona), Koa Peat (Arizona) and Jaden Bradley (Arizona). Still, Lloyd and Calipari will have compelling rosters. Arizona returns starters Mo Krivas, Ivan Kharchenkov and a blend of high-end high school prospects and portal pickups. Arkansas returns Billy Richmond III to pair with high-end transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson (Georgia) and one of the nation's best recruiting classes, led by Jordan Smith, the No. 2 player in 2026.

The programs have met nine times; Arkansas holds a 6-3 advantage. It's been a long while since these two have found each other outside of March. Next season's matchup will mark the first regular season tilt between the Cats and Hogs since Nov. 17, 1995, an 83-73 Arizona win at Bud Walton Arena in the preseason NIT.

The Wildcats and Razorbacks leaning into the NCAA Tournament rematch is the latest example in what's become a trend in college basketball. UConn is going to play three teams it just faced in March Madness, leading with a title-game rematch against Michigan in the first week of the season. Duke and UConn -- who met in an epic Elite Eight affair -- will run it back on Thanksgiving Eve in Las Vegas. UConn is also going to play Illinois next season on Dec. 9. That's a rematch not just of a Final Four game, but a return after the teams played at Madison Square Garden last season.