2. Arkansas Razorbacks – 11/27, United Center
John Calipari has created another loaded roster. Arkansas knocked Duke off in 2023 and now the Blue Devils are ready for revenge. Arkansas comes in ranked 14th in the country with a ton of returners. Karter Knox, DJ Wagner Jr, and Trevon Brazile are back. They also added several big name freshmen including Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas.
The big question for Arkansas will be how reliable the backcourt will be. Acuff is a true freshman and Wagner has had his ups and downs in college. If those two mesh well, the ceiling raises exponentially. The depth is certainly there for the Razorbacks but that is often the case with Calipari who has drastically underperformed over the last five years.
Duke and Arkansas have very similar rosters. Duke has slightly more talent top to bottom and a better coach. This game just falls in the middle of a difficult holiday season stretch for Duke and it occurs in Chicago. On Thanksgiving, we have to hope the Tryptophan is out of the system early.
