Arkansas to Face Virginia in the Capital Showcase

August 21, 2026

FAYETTEVILLE – For the first time in program history, Arkansas will play a game in Washington, D.C., as the Razorbacks face Virginia in this year’s edition of the Capital Showcase, the Gazelle Group announced today. The contest is set for Nov. 8 (Sunday) and will be played in the Capital One Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 pm (ET)/Noon (CT), and the game will be televised on ESPN.

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While this will be a first for the Razorback program playing in the nation’s capital, D.C. native and Arkansas freshman Jordan Smith Jr. is very familiar with playing in the area. Smith, the 2026 consensus National High School Player of the Year, led Paul IV Catholic HS to a pair of MaxPreps national high school championships.

In 2025-26, the Cavaliers posted a 30-6 record, placed second in the ACC at 15-3 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas finished 28-9, captured the SEC Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.

Arkansas is 3-4 all-time versus Virginia, with all seven meetings coming between 1984 and 1998. The Cavaliers won the first three meetings while the Razorbacks have won three of the last four in the series.
• 03/18/1984 #6-seed Virginia def. #2-seed and #8-ranked Arkansas, 53-51 (OT) in the NCAA 2nd Rd (East Rutherford)
• 01/21/1985 Virginia def. Arkansas, 54-52 in Charlottesville
• 12/20/1986 Virginia def. Arkansas, 78-66 in Pine Bluff
• 12/12/1987 Arkansas def. Virginia, 66-52 in Fayetteville
• 11/30/1988 Virginia def. Arkansas, 75-65 in Charlottesville
• 03/26/1995 #6 Arkansas def. #4-seed and #13-ranked Virginia, 68-61 in the NCAA Elite 8 (Kansas City)
• 11/20/1998 #19 Arkansas def. Virginia, 85-83, in the Top of the World Shootout (Fairbanks)

Coach Cal is 0-1 all-time versus the Cavaliers as his UMass squad fell to Virginia in the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
• 03/21/1993 #6-seed Virginia def. #3-seed and #20-ranked UMass, 71-56 (Syracuse, N.Y.)

This will be the first time Coach Cal has taken one of his collegiate teams to D.C. since the 2008-09 season.
• On Dec. 13, 2008, his 17th-ranked Memphis Tigers fell to #19 Georgetown, 79-70 in overtime, at Capital One Arena (then known as the Verizon Center).
• Coach Cal’s UMass teams played George Washington each year as A-10 rivals from 1988-89 to 1995-96 in D.C. at the Revolutionaries’ Charles E. Smith Center. (The Minutemen were 1-6 at GW during the Calipari era.)

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