Shulman reportedly may be facing highly-ranked team

John Calipari (Craven Whitlow / allHOGS Images)

CONWAY, Ark. — The news started leaking out Friday and right now all we have is a report from Jon Rothstein at College Hoops Today that may gives us some insight into UCA’s basketball schedule this year.

If the Bears are going to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in a non-conference game this year in Little Rock, we can only make a few assumptions about John Shulman’s first schedule of games after being hired in April.

We have no idea when or where, though, since neither school has released any official schedules, especially non-conference that is always a work in progress, often until fall. The game will be played in the Little Rock area and the assumption that will be in Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Ark.

UCA is 0-6 against the Hogs with just two of them being played away from Fayetteville at neutral-court locations. Arkansas for the last couple of decades has usually played a non-conference opponent around a couple of weeks before the Christmas break in Simmons. Since the game is usually a sell-out (regardless of opponent) it is something they would like to continue.

When the Razorbacks hired John Calipari in April away from Kentucky he made it clear right from the start he wanted to play more games in the Little Rock area. That’s not surprising considering the amount of talent in the Central Arkansas area.

It would also be a chance for Shulman’s first team to get some big-time publicity that will follow the Razorbacks this season with the expected Calipari circus arriving in Fayetteville. That means added exposure for UCA against a team projected to be highly-ranked, plus an in-state team.

The game has already been announced that it will at least be broadcast on ESPN+, which was an addition to the Razorback fans because that has not been possible in the past because there have been too many issues with internet connectivity there. That was always surprising in the past with the names on the bank were Alltell and Verizon for 20 years, and has been an issue since Simmons Bank took on the sponsorship.

Shulman has been adding players since being hired in what has likely been a whirlwind of activity, signing some of the highest-rated high school players in Arkansas plus putting together a schedule and juggling all the complexities that entails.