Razorback basketball’s non-conference slate keeps getting tougher

Arkansas already had a demanding non-conference schedule lined up for next season.

Now it’s getting even bigger.

Razorbacks coach John Calipari confirmed Monday that two new exhibition opponents are joining the mix before the Hogs even open the regular season.

Arkansas will square off against Kansas and Memphis in exhibition play according to Calipari, who shared the update almost as an afterthought during a media scrum after practice.

The comment came as news to some in the room including possibly his own staff.

The Razorbacks had previously locked in a Gonzaga exhibition inside Bud Walton Arena.

Kansas will host its matchup at the legendary Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence while the Memphis game looks headed back to Fayetteville after last season’s trip to FedEx Forum.

Calipari wasn’t totally sure news was official

Calipari seemed to catch himself midsentence while talking about the games.

“Is the Kansas thing on?” he asked the room. “I think it is, right? I think we’re doing Memphis and Kansas and Gonzaga in exhibitions.”

Nobody around him could confirm it right away, which led to a lighter moment.

“Look, they tell me which seat to get on, on the bus,” Calipari said with a laugh. “The front right. Sometimes they’ll tell me what time it leaves. But those are the three (exhibitions).

“I can’t tell you the rest of the schedule, but there’s some other teams on there from, maybe, below Power 4, but right there. So there will be a couple of those.”

One more surprise opponent could be coming

Calipari also mentioned a fifth game still to be revealed. That matchup would be another marquee non-conference test set for a neutral site and hasn’t been locked in publicly.

Arkansas already carries a stacked slate heading into the winter months.

The Hogs open with Indiana on Nov. 17 at Madison Square Garden before flying to Detroit to face Michigan State on Nov. 26 in the CBS Thanksgiving Classic at Little Caesars Arena.

From there Arkansas travels to the Dean Smith Center on Dec. 1 to battle North Carolina in the SEC and ACC Challenge.

The Razorbacks then meet Arizona on Dec. 19 in Phoenix as part of the Hall of Fame Series before returning home to host Central Michigan on Dec. 22.

Add in the exhibitions against Kansas, Memphis and Gonzaga and Arkansas basketball’s preseason alone reads like a murderer’s row of blue bloods and rising programs.

It’s a schedule built to prepare the team for grinding SEC games ahead.

Conference play tips off Jan. 2 with a home date against Missouri. From there the Hogs work through a brutal SEC gauntlet before the SEC Tournament in March.

Fans hoping for another deep tournament run will want to watch how this group handles the early tests.

A schedule this loaded should tell coaches and fans a lot about where the Razorbacks stand before conference play even begins.

Key takeaways

• Kansas and Memphis join Gonzaga as confirmed Arkansas basketball exhibition opponents for next season
• Calipari revealed the news casually before it appeared he wasn’t sure it had been made public yet
• A fifth marquee non-conference game at a neutral site remains unannounced