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re: SEC/ACC Challenge Opponents Announced.
Posted on 6/5/26 at 7:43 am to Hammerbone09
Posted on 6/5/26 at 7:43 am to Hammerbone09
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Posted on 6/5/26 at 7:44 am to VFL67
Arkansas draws a lot more viewers than Tenn for basketball, that's what matters. They are a much bigger name and draw in the sport. Duke-Ark last year was the most watched game of the season. Ark had two in the top 10 Tenn had zero. Pretty obvious to pair the two most watched. As for the preseason ranking I just googled and both Fox Sports and On3 have Arkansas higher than Tenn.
Fox Sports latest top 25: Ark #12 Tenn #17
On3 latest rankings: Ark #10 Tenn #15
Fox Sports latest top 25: Ark #12 Tenn #17
On3 latest rankings: Ark #10 Tenn #15
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If tweet fails to load, click here.This post was edited on 6/5/26 at 8:00 am
Posted on 6/5/26 at 7:51 am to ForeverGator
Hard to imagine....Duke is playing away from home. Is this a "first"?
Posted on 6/5/26 at 7:55 am to Cuthy
No, they played at Arkansas in this challenge 23/24 season. We won.
Posted on 6/5/26 at 8:23 am to ForeverGator
quote:I just got moist, that'll be the first ever meeting in Chapel Hill.
Ark @ UNC
Posted on 6/5/26 at 8:24 am to UltimateHog
quote:
As for the preseason ranking I just googled and both Fox Sports and On3 have Arkansas higher than Tenn.
Sports Illustrated and ESPN both have Tennessee ranked higher than Arkansas pre-season, so I guess it just depends on where you look. FanDuel currently has Tennessee as having higher betting odds to win the Natty over Arkansas.
quote:
Pretty obvious to pair the two most watched.
I mean the argument could be made that Duke is on that list 5 times so they are the common denominator among viewership. The other game was more Cal vs UK than Arkansas vs UK. However I cant prove either of those claims.
The main issue comes from the other dumb Arkansas fan who said, "Tenner isn’t drawing a matchup with Duke or UNC any time soon." Thats just blatantly false given the fact that Tennessee has played both more times and has been historically more successful against both than Arkansas.
Posted on 6/5/26 at 8:40 am to VFL67
quote:
I mean the argument could be made that Duke is on that list 5 times so they are the common denominator among viewership.
UNC has 3 in the top 5, those 2 playing each other is always high for the obvious reasons. Duke went to Arkansas the very first year of this challenge. Disagree on Cal vs UK too, Arkansas-Kentucky is always a big draw well before the coaching change. It was a Saturday primetime CBS game every year for ages.
quote:
fact that Tennessee has played both more times and has been historically more successful against both than Arkansas.
I guess it depends on how you want to claim that. Arkansas beat Duke to win the national title so from a pure success standpoint I'd say that is more successful. If you mean random regular season matchups in early season tournaments mostly like Maui then sure.
This post was edited on 6/5/26 at 8:42 am
Posted on 6/5/26 at 8:56 am to UltimateHog
quote:
Disagree on Cal vs UK too, Arkansas-Kentucky is always a big draw well before the coaching change
I mean you arent wrong but that was only in the 90s. From 2000 to 2024 Arkansas vs UK meant nothing to anyone. Cal changed everything. Arkansas and UK haven't even faced off in a top 10 matchup since 1995.
quote:
Arkansas beat Duke to win the national title so from a pure success standpoint I'd say that is more successful
I mean thats true but that was also 32 years ago. No Tennessee fan would claim to want to play FSU in football in an ACC matchup just because of 1998.
quote:
If you mean random regular season matchups in early season tournaments mostly like Maui then sure.
Yeah, that's what the ACC/SEC matchup is, a regular season game. Either way my central point was always that Tennessee should have drawn an ACC counterpart we share a border with. That leaves 6 schools to choose from plus Clemson who is just 2.5 hours from our arena
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