FAYETTEVILLE – In a rematch of the 2021 NCAA Elite 8 meeting, Arkansas will face Baylor as part of the 2023 SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The contest will be played on Jan. 28, 2023, in Waco, Texas.
Overall, the 10th annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge will feature 10 games played on the same day (Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023) in a matchup of two premier college basketball conferences. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will once again televise the Challenge. Start times and network designations will be announced at a later date.
Arkansas will play in its ninth consecutive Challenge. The Razorbacks are 4-4 in such games.
Arkansas helped the SEC win last year’s Challenge, 6-4, with a 77-68 home victory over West Virginia. It was the second year in a row the SEC won the Challenge. The SEC has lost the Challenge just one time in the last six years.
The Arkansas and Baylor rivalry dates back to the Razorbacks’ first season of basketball (1924-24) when both schools were members of the Southwest Conference. The teams have met on 144 previous occasions, making the Bears fourth (tied) among Arkansas’ most common opponents behind Texas A&M (161), Texas (155) and SMU (155) while being tied with Rice (144). Arkansas owns a 96-48 advantage in the series, including a 37-32 mark in games played in Waco. However, the teams have only played three times since 1990-91 after Arkansas left the SWC for the SEC and all three were on neutral courts – Jan. 5, 2008, in Dallas; Dec. 20, 2009, in North Little Rock; and Mar. 29, 2021, in Indianapolis.