It’s officially official: Tom Izzo and John Calipari will be spending Thanksgiving together in Detroit.
Michigan State basketball will face Arkansas on Thursday, Nov. 26 at Little Caesars Arena in a nonconference game . The two Hall of Fame coaches each talked about the game in April, and the contract is now completed. Tickets go on sale Oct. 1 at www.DetroitHoops.com/tickets.
The Spartans and Razorbacks will tip off at 4:30 p.m. on a busy Thanksgiving Day in downtown Detroit. The 100th anniversary of America’s Thanksgiving Parade will run down Woodward Avenue starting at 8:45 a.m., then the Lions are hosting the Chicago Bears at 1 p.m. at Ford Field.
Both the Lions-Bears and MSU-Arkansas games will air on CBS.
“I love any time we get a chance to play in Detroit and at Little Caesars Arena,” Izzo said in a statement released Wednesday, July 8. “When you have a chance to play a game that will be a memory-maker for your players and your program, you take advantage of that opportunity. …
“To play a team like Arkansas in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, right after the Lions, will make for a great day for sports fans in our state and for college basketball.”
It will be the second straight season Izzo and Calipari meet. MSU defeated Arkansas, 69-66, on Nov. 8 at Breslin Center in East Lansing. Izzo and Calipari are 3-3 against each other in six previous meetings.
Last season’s matchup was part of a two-game, home-and-home deal was announced in August 2025 and originally was supposed to be completed this fall. The Spartans instead will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, during the 2027-28 season.
MSU owns a 3-0 record all-time against Arkansas. One of those was a Nov. 28, 1995, victory in Izzo’s first season at the Great Eight at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State-Arkansas joins busy Thanksgiving in Detroit
Reporting by Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
