Thanksgiving might be most associated with football, but this year, make some room on your plate for college basketball.
On Friday, CBS Sports announced that it will air a Turkey Day matchup featuring Illinois and Arkansas at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game will air at 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 28, following the 12:30 ET kickoff between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, which will also air on CBS. In addition to being broadcast nationally, the showdown between the Fighting Illini and Razorbacks will also air on Paramount+.
As the release noted, this will be the first time that CBS has televised a college basketball game on Thanksgiving.
“What a great opportunity CBS is giving Arkansas and Illinois. Thanksgiving is a day that gets all of America — whether you are a sports fan or not — watching sports on TV,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said in a statement. “Playing in this time slot will provide tremendous exposure for both programs. Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center is a premier arena that is located close enough that both fan bases can attend. We have a great deal of respect for Coach Underwood and his Illinois program, and we know this game will be one the whole nation will be interested in seeing.”
Illinois coach Brad Underwood added, “We are thrilled for this opportunity. Playing in Kansas City—a tremendous basketball city that is near and dear to me—and taking on a great opponent in Arkansas, led by a Hall of Fame Coach in Coach Calipari, is a big test for our team. It is an honor for Illinois Basketball to play on CBS on Thanksgiving Day; we know the sports world will be watching.”
While college basketball games have previously aired on Thanksgiving Day, the race to fill Black Friday with sports content made it inevitable that some more high-profile matchups would migrate to the day before. Arkansas vs. Illinois is certainly an intriguing game, but it will be interesting to see how it performs from a rating standpoint as it goes head-to-head against Fox’s airing of the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants at 4:30 ET.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.