Officially announced by the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday morning, the Sooners have agreed to a multi-year basketball series with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Opting for a facility located nearly equidistant from each campus, the two programs will meet in Tulsa’s BOK Center. Set to tipoff on December 12 of this year, the non-conference foes will apparently clash just before Christmas of the subsequent year.
In the release, Athletic Director Joe Castiglione said, “We’re very excited to partner with the University of Arkansas and BOK Center in creating a new basketball series which we believe will develop into a fantastic pre-holiday tradition.” The stated goal is to encourage a unique 50-50 atmosphere similar to that of the Cotton Bowl during the Red River Rivalry.
However, the greatest athletic director in all the land also has other hopes. “Our goal is to turn this border rivalry into a weekend-long event that brings together two passionate fan bases and creates an atmosphere second to none. The setting is a world-class venue located approximately halfway between the two campuses,” continued Castiglione. “We’ve always received excellent support from our fans in the Tulsa area and we know there are a lot of passionate Razorbacks fans in that area too. We look forward to bringing this matchup to downtown Tulsa.”
On the hardwood, Oklahoma and Arkansas are not total strangers. Meeting during the 2017 campaign, the Razorbacks secured a 92-83 victory over the Sooners. Lon Kruger hopes to even the score in the coming years with a team returning experienced players like Brady Manek and Austin Reaves.