FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas and Texas men’s basketball teams, both ranked in the top 15 of Blue Ribbon magazine’s preseason poll, will play an exhibition game on Oct. 29 in Austin, Texas.
That’s the same day as the Arkansas-Auburn football game in Auburn, Ala.
Arkansas’ basketball game at Texas will start at 3 p.m., it was announced Tuesday, and be televised on the Longhorn Network.
The game will be played in the Longhorns’ new Moody Center, which cost an estimated $375 million and has a seating capacity of 15,000.
Arkansas is ranked No. 6 by Blue Ribbon and Texas No. 14.
“The Arkansas-Texas rivalry is one of the great rivalries in college athletics,” Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said in a news release. “The fact that we were chosen to open the Moody Center adds to our storied history and lays the foundation for the future when Texas joins the league.”
Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC no later than the fall of 2025 and could make the move earlier depending on financial negotiations between the the schools and Big 12 officials.
Tickets for the Arkansas-Texas exhibition game are $25 for all reserved seats.
Texas season ticket holders will be given the first opportunity to purchase their seats from Sept. 27-Oct. 10. Longhorn Foundation donors who are not season ticket holders will be able to purchase seats from Oct. 14-Oct. 16.
If any seats remain available, they will be sold to the general public on Oct. 17.
Arkansas is 74-9 overall in exhibition games and has won 34 in a row.
Chris Beard is going into his second season as Texas’ coach. He previously was the coach at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas Tech.
Mussleman’s Razorbacks beat Beard’s Red Raiders 68-66 in a second-round NCAA Tournament game in 2020. That turned out to be Beard’s last game at Texas Tech.
“When Coach Beard approached us to play this exhibition, we were all in,” Musselman said. “We have a lot of respect for Coach Beard and think this will be a great way to start the season prior to the actual season opener.
“I’ve said in the past, we get a lot more out of playing these Division I exhibitions. It will give us a great opportunity to see where we stand and what we will need to work on.”
It will be the third time in Musselman’s four seasons at Arkansas the Razorbacks have played a Division I opponent in an exhibition game, but first on the road.
Arkansas beat UALR 79-64 on Oct. 19, 2019 when Nolan Richardson Court was dedicated at Walton Arena.
Last season Arkansas beat North Texas 68-60 in Walton Arena.
Arkansas and Texas previously were Southwest Conference rivals and have met 155 times with the Razorbacks holding an 87-68 series lead.
In the teams’ most recent game, Texas beat Arkansas 73-71 in El Paso, Texas, in the opener of the 2018-19 season in the Armed Forces Classic at Fort Bliss.
In accordance with NCAA rules, the Arkansas-Texas exhibition game is allowed to have fans in attendance and be televised as a matchup between two Division I programs because it has a charitable component.
Texas, as the home team, will donate proceeds to
The Seedling Foundation and Break the Pipeline, organizations supporting social justice equity and educational opportunities for youth in Central Texas communities.