Arkansas-Gonzaga exhibition how to watch Hogs’ home debut info

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Nobody in Fayetteville knows what John Calipari’s new team looks like yet.

That includes Calipari.

The No. 12 Hogs start finding out Saturday when No. 15 Gonzaga comes to Bud Walton Arena for an exhibition. Tipoff’s at 3 p.m.

You won’t find this one on regular TV. It’s streaming on SEC Network+ through the ESPN app.

Fans in the 19,368-seat building get their first in-person look at this group.

Memphis comes to town Wednesday at 7 p.m for one more warm-up before the games start counting.

Calipari not making any predictions

Calipari’s 2026 recruiting class ranked first nationally. He added two transfers on top of it.

Count it up and there are eight freshmen. Four were five-star kids. Three more were four-stars. Ilia Frolov, a center from Russia, rounds out the group.

That’s a lot of first-year players for one locker room.

“We’re really young, but competitive,” Calipari said. “We got a good group that way, and now we just got a lot of things to figure out.”

He isn’t sitting still, either. “Yesterday, I changed half the stuff we’d worked on all summer in the first 13 days because I wasn’t comfortable with it, with this team,” he said.

Already penciled this bunch into March? Calipari’s got news for you.

“I’m loving what I’m seeing. But for anybody to predict this team, you’re crazy,” he said. “You have no idea, I don’t have an idea.”

What he really wants to see is how they handle a rough stretch. “How are they going to react when they get punched in the mouth? Don’t know yet.”

A few older guys to lean on

The Hogs aren’t all kids, though.

Billy Richmond is a junior forward, and this is his third year with the program.

Jeremiah Wilkinson, also a junior, played guard at Georgia before he transferred.

Furman transfer Cooper Bowser is a senior who gives the Razorbacks some size inside.

Those three have been around the block. Calipari will lean on them while the freshmen find their footing.

Saturday’s the first time they’ll share the floor with the seats full.

Gonzaga is rebuilding on the fly

The Bulldogs have plenty of new faces too.

This is Mark Few’s 28th season running the program. He’s won 773 games and lost 156. Against West Coast Conference teams, he went 374-41.

Last season ended in the Sweet 16 after a 31-4 run.

The Zags have a new league now. They’re playing their first year in the Pac-12.

They’re also missing Graham Ike, who topped the team in points and rebounds. Ike signed with the Golden State Warriors as an undrafted free agent.

Few’s answer was five transfers and two four-star freshmen. The headliner is Isiah Harwell, a shooting guard who carried a five-star ranking as a recruit.

Odds, radio and a little history

BetSaracen has Arkansas favored by 6.5 points, and the total sits at 162.5.

Somebody’s going to bet on an exhibition. Of course they are.

If you’d rather listen, the call’s on Sirius Ch. 99 and XM Ch. 190. TuneIn has it, too.

Stations all over the state carry the broadcast on the Razorback Sports Network. You can listen on ESPN Arkansas at 93.7 and 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in Fort Smith and the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Arkansas and Gonzaga have only crossed paths two times. Each side owns a win.

The Hogs took the most recent one 74-68 in the 2022 Sweet 16.

Saturday won’t change that record since nothing counts yet. But Calipari might walk out of the gym knowing a little more than he does right now.