After John Calipari's highly anticipated return to Lexington this past college basketball season, Kentucky and Arkansas are set to face off again in the 2025-26 campaign. But this time around, per CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, the game will be played in Fayetteville's Bud Walton Arena.

Once it was announced that Calipari, the former head coach of Kentucky from 2009-24, would be making his first trip back to Lexington in February, it was as hyped as any game in the country. A chorus of boos filled Rupp Arena as Calipari made his way onto the court as a visitor for the first time.

If not for Calipari's prior tenure at Kentucky, this game would have likely been second nature to some of the other games on the slate, considering Arkansas entered 1-6 in SEC play. Thanks to former Kentucky forward Adou Thiero's 21 points, the Razorbacks picked up their biggest win of the season, 89-79, and kickstarted a remarkable turnaround in the second half of conference play.

Arkansas improved its SEC record to 8-10 and advanced all the way to the Sweet 16, where its season came crashing down after blowing a double-digit lead to Texas Tech and eventually losing, 85-83, in overtime. Kentucky reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019, but fell to rival Tennessee, 78-65.

It would not be a surprise to see either team make a return trip to the second weekend or even beyond in 2025-26, given the transfers and recruits both have coming in. According to 247Sports, Kentucky ranks fifth in this year's transfer rankings, only trailing St. John's, Michigan, Kansas State and Louisville. Among the Wildcats' notable transfers is former Arizona State forward Jayden Quaintance, who is a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. In addition to the fifth-ranked transfer class, Kentucky also gets back its leading scorer from 2024-25 in Oweh, who pulled his name from the NBA Draft pool.

The Wildcats will definitely be tested before they square off with Arkansas in SEC play. Kentucky is slated to face Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Indiana and St. John's in non-conference play. The game against the Johnnies will take place in Atlanta as part of the CBS Sports Classic almost 30 years after Rick Pitino won his only championship at Kentucky.

Arkansas, meanwhile, ranks No. 6 in recruiting rankings, headlined by five-star guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas. The Razorbacks also picked up former South Carolina big man Nick Pringle in the transfer portal.

As things currently stand, Kentucky is tied with Michigan, Kansas, St. John's and UConn for the fifth-lowest odds to win the 2025-26 national title (+1700, per FanDuel), while Arkansas is tied with Illinois, Arizona and Gonzaga for the 14th-lowest odds (+3000).

It was hard to know what to expect when Calipari departed Lexington for Fayetteville and Pope took over for the program he once played for. One year in, both are coming off successful campaigns and look primed to be national title contenders.