Memphis basketball to face Arkansas, Mississippi State in exhibitions, source says
· Yahoo Sports
Memphis basketball has scheduled exhibition games versus a pair of SEC opponents for the second straight year.
Penny Hardaway's Tigers will host Mississippi State at FedExForum on Oct. 23, then travel to Fayetteville for a preseason game against Arkansas (and former Memphis coach John Calipari) on Oct. 29 at Bud Walton Arena, according to a source July 27 with direct knowledge of the program's schedule. The source requested anonymity because no official announcements have been made.
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Last year, the Tigers hosted the Razorbacks then faced Auburn in Atlanta. In 2024, Hardaway's squad hosted North Carolina and met Alabama in Huntsville.
Arkansas is coming off a 28-9 season in which it reached the Sweet 16. Billy Richmond III (a Memphis native) is among the leading returning players for Calipari, who reloaded his roster with four 5-star freshmen (Jordan Smith Jr., JJ Andrews, Miikka Muurinen and Abdou Traore).
Mississippi State, who defeated Memphis in the regular season in 2025-26, otherwise scuffled to a 13-19 record (like Memphis). But the Bulldogs return leading scorer Josh Hubbard and have added three 4-star freshmen.
The matchup with Mississippi State could serve as a precursor to the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, where both the Tigers and Bulldogs are part of the same four-team pod during Feast Week (Nov. 25). The opening-round matchups for the Battle 4 Atlantis have not yet been announced. Wake Forest and Penn State are currently the other teams in the same pod as Memphis and Mississippi State.
The Tigers are set to play 14 non-conference games (and 18 American Conference games this season), beginning with the neutral-site matchup against Iowa State on Nov. 2 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There are still three non-conference games that have not yet been announced. The source indicated the program is working to make one of the remaining openings a home game against a Power 4 opponent. The other two are expected to be home games against low-major opponents.
Memphis Tigers basketball schedule 2026-27
- Oct. 23: host Mississippi State (exhibition)
- Oct. 29: at Arkansas (exhibition)
- Nov. 2: vs. Iowa State (Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
- Nov. 7: host VCU
- Nov. 10: at Vanderbilt
- Nov. 15: host Louisville
- Nov. 22: host Evansville
- Nov. 25-27: Two games at Battle 4 Atlantis (Bahamas)
- Nov. 29: vs. Dayton (neutral site — part of the American-Atlantic 10 Challenge)
- Dec. 5: at Baylor
- Dec. 16: at Texas
- Feb. 20, 2027: host Utah State
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected], follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball to face Arkansas, Mississippi State in exhibitions, source says