Arkansas, Oklahoma State to meet in Big 12/SEC Challenge

Fans begin to filter in at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., for an NCAA college basketball game between Oklahoma State and Texas in this 2011 file photo. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will face a familiar opponent in the 2021 edition of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

The Razorbacks are scheduled to travel to Oklahoma State on Jan. 30, 2021, it was announced Wednesday, marking the third time in five seasons the programs are scheduled to meet in the event.

The Cowboys defeated Arkansas 99-71 in Stillwater, Okla., in 2017, and the Razorbacks won 66-65 in Fayetteville the following season.

The game is scheduled to be played eight months after the death of Eddie Sutton, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach who led both programs to a Final Four. The court in Gallagher-Iba Arena is named after Sutton, who coached the Cowboys from 1990-2016.

Sutton coached Arkansas from 1974-85. His youngest son, Scott, is an assistant on the Cowboys' staff.

Oklahoma State, which is led by head coach Mike Boynton, was 18-14 overall and 7-11 in Big 12 play at the time the 2019-20 season was suspended in March. The Cowboys will have one of the nation's top freshmen this season, forward Cade Cunningham, who won the 2020 Naismith Award as the national high school player of the year.

Arkansas has been part of the challenge seven times in its eight-year history, alternating home and away games each season.

The Razorbacks are 3-3 overall with home wins over Texas Tech (2016), Oklahoma State and TCU (2020), and road losses at Iowa State (2015), Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (2019).

Oklahoma State has had the upper hand in the schools’ series since 2000, winning five of six matchups. The Cowboys hold a 37-15 all-time record against Arkansas.

Other games in the challenge next year are scheduled to include Texas at Kentucky; Florida at West Virginia; Texas Tech at LSU; Kansas at Tennessee; Auburn at Baylor; Iowa State at Mississippi State; Alabama at Oklahoma; TCU at Missouri; and Texas A&M at Kansas State.