Arkansas, Texas Tech schedule Sweet 16 rematch in Dallas on December 13

Former Southwest Conference foes Arkansas and Texas Tech are going to face once again. The two are finalizing an agreement to meet on December 13th at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

The Razorbacks and Red Raiders most recently met in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. There, Texas Tech came out on top 85-83 in overtime in the Sweet 16 matchup.

NEWS: Arkansas and Texas Tech are finalizing an agreement to meet on December 13th at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, according to multiple sources.https://t.co/lrVEAjwqgC

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 20, 2025

Texas Tech held off Arkansas in 2025 Sweet 16

That Sweet 16 matchup has gone down as one of the best NCAA Tournament games in recent history, as Arkansas led 69-56 with just 4:43 remaining and had its eyes set on an Elite Eight matchup against SEC foe Florida. The Red Raiders, however, stormed back and tied the game with nine seconds left courtesy of a Darrion Williams three-point shot.

In overtime, Williams struck again with a go-ahead layup with seven seconds remaining. Arkansas guard DJ Wagner drove down the court and pulled up for a game-tying jumper just inside the three-point arc, but it hit the front of the rim and cemented a Texas Tech victory.

Arkansas head coach John Calipari was heavily criticized for not calling a timeout on the final possession. He defended the decision afterward.

“In my career, I let that go and let the guy get to the rim,” Calipari explained. “They’re not going to foul you. With that kind of time, just me, you call a timeout, now you’ve got to worry about what he’s doing, how he’s playing, the inbound, what are you doing?

“So I usually let that go. Now, because it ended the way it did, yeah, I wish I would have called a timeout. But 99 percent of the time, I let that go because now I know what they’re doing, they know what we’re doing. That’s why we did it. The end of the half, we wanted to go at one guy, and we did. He made a hard bump on DJ that got him kind of off balance on the shot. But it was what we wanted.”

Both teams will look different this season

Things will look much different for both teams this season, as Williams surprisingly entered the Transfer Portal following the season and signed with Will Wade‘s NC State program. Arkansas lost major hitters as well in Johnell Davis (who scored 30 points in the Sweet Sixteen loss), Adou Thiero, Jonas Aidoo and Zvonimir Ivisic.

Tech’s Grant McCasland, however, was able to retain Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin and point guard Christian Anderson (who scored 22 points in the Sweet 16 win), along with bringing in the No. 52-ranked portal class. Calipari retained promising pieces in Wagner, Billy Richmond and Karter Knox, as well as bringing in the country’s No. 4-ranked high school class.

Arkansas and Texas Tech played every season from 1957-1991 until the Razorbacks departed the Southwest Conference and joined the Southeastern Conference. The Red Raiders remained a member of the Southwest until it was disbanded following the 1995-96 season.

Tech leads the all-time series 41-39. The series is split 3-3 since the two teams became non-conference rivals.