FAYETTEVILLE -- NCAA Tournament rematches are nothing new for the University of Arkansas men's basketball program, but it's been 26 years.
When the Razorbacks (24-6) play Oral Roberts (18-10) on Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, it will mark the ninth time Arkansas has faced a team in the NCAA Tournament that it also met during the regular season.
The last time was in 1995, when the Razorbacks beat Memphis 96-91 in overtime in Kansas City, Mo.
Earlier this season, Arkansas beat Oral Roberts 87-76 at Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Dec. 20 when the Razorbacks overcame a 40-30 halftime deficit.
"They're a confident team right now," Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. "They're very well coached. I think they have improved dramatically since we played them in the nonconference."
Arkansas made it three victories over Texas in 1990 when the Razorbacks beat the Longhorns 88-85 in Dallas in the NCAA Midwest Region final. During the regular season in Southwest Conference games, Arkansas beat Texas 109-100 at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville and 103-96 in overtime in Austin, Texas.
"We'd had close games, but I just felt like we had an advantage playing Texas a third time because we know we can beat them," said Nolan Richardson, Arkansas' coach from 1985-2002. "We know. They think they can beat us.
"There's a big difference between knowing and thinking. We knew we could beat Texas, no matter how many times we played them."
The game was played in Dallas, but in Reunion Arena, which also was known as "Barnhill South" because of how Arkansas fans bought most of the tickets for the SWC Tournament.
"We were playing at our second home court," Richardson said. "Even though we were playing in Texas' state, we ruled the fan support."
The Texas game was the start of a six-year stretch in which the Razorbacks had four NCAA Tournament rematches, capped by their victory over in 1995.
In 1992, Memphis beat Arkansas 82-80 in Milwaukee in a second-round NCAA Tournament game after beating the Razorbacks 92-88 in Memphis.
The rematch loss to the Tigers marked the final game as Razorbacks for Todd Day, Lee Mayberry and Oliver Miller, who led Arkansas to four consecutive conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances.
"That loss really hurt," Richardson said. "I hated that Todd, Lee and Big O went out that way."
Arkansas lost its first NCAA Tournament rematch in 1945 to Oklahoma State, 68-41 in Kansas City, Mo. The Cowboys went on to win their first of two consecutive national championships under Coach Henry Iba. During the regular season, Oklahoma State beat Arkansas 49-40 in El Dorado.
The Razorbacks didn't have another NCAA Tournament rematch for 35 years, then it happened in back-to-back seasons.
Kansas State swept Arkansas in 1980, beating the Razorbacks 66-57 in Pine Bluff and beat them again 71-52 in an NCAA Tournament game in Lincoln, Neb.
In 1981, Arkansas beat LSU 86-76 at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. The Tigers got their revenge with a 72-56 victory in the NCAA Tournament in New Orleans.
In 1985, Iowa beat Arkansas 71-52 at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu then the Razorbacks beat the Hawkeyes 63-54 in Salt Lake City, Utah, in an NCAA Tournament.
It turned out to be the final of 260 victories for Eddie Sutton in 11 seasons as Arkansas' coach. St. John's beat Arkansas 68-65 in the second round, then Sutton took the Kentucky job.
"Iowa thumped us, then we thumped them," said Joe Kleine, an All-SWC senior center for the Razorbacks in 1985. "Iowa had a good team, but we were excited to play them again.
"We looked forward to it, because they ruined our trip in Hawaii."
Arkansas went 1-2 in Honolulu.
"We thought after that last game we were going to spend another three days in Hawaii, and Iowa beat us so bad that Coach Sutton put us on a redeye flight back home," Kleine said. "I remember we flew all night, got home and went straight to the arena for practice.
"We practiced three times that day. I didn't even cut the tape off my ankles. I just left it on all day."
Arkansas won the 1994 national championship and finished runner-up to UCLA in 1995 after beating Tulsa and Memphis, respectively, in Sweet 16 rematches. During the regular season, the Razorbacks had to go overtime to win 93-91 at Tulsa in 1994 and beat Memphis 88-87 at Walton Arena in 1995.
Including the victory over Texas in 1990, Richardson's Razorbacks made three Final Four appearances after beating teams in the NCAA Tournament they also beat in the regular season.
Arkansas is 4-4 in its NCAA Tournament rematch games, including 4-1 in its past five.
Musselman said the Razorbacks' 11-point victory over Oral Roberts three months ago and the Golden Eagles' No. 15 seed will have no bearing on Saturday night's game.
"We're not going to win the game unless we bring our A-plus game," Musselman said. "If we play our B game or C game, we will be in our beds in Northwest Arkansas by early Sunday morning.
"Any team from here on out, if you're going to get to the Elite Eight, you better play really well."
Second time around
When Arkansas plays Oral Roberts on Saturday night in the Sweet 16, it will be the ninth time the Razorbacks have faced a team in the NCAA Tournament that they also met in the regular season.
Arkansas is 4-4 in the NCAA Tournament rematches:
OKLAHOMA STATE (1945)
NCAA TOURNAMENT OSU won 68-41 in Kansas City, Mo.
REGULAR SEASON OSU won 49-40 in El Dorado
KANSAS STATE (1980)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Kansas St. won 71-53 in Lincoln, Neb.
REGULAR SEASON Kansas St. won 66-57 in Pine Bluff
LSU (1981)
NCAA TOURNAMENT LSU won 72-56 in New Orleans
REGULAR SEASON Arkansas won 86-76 in Anchorage, Alaska
IOWA (1985)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Arkansas won 63-54 in Salt Lake City, Utah
REGULAR SEASON Iowa won 71-52 in Honolulu, Hawaii
TEXAS (1990)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Arkansas won 88-85 in Dallas
REGULAR SEASON Arkansas won 109-100 in Fayetteville and 103-96 (OT) in Austin, Texas
MEMPHIS (1992)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Memphis won 82-80 in Milwaukee
REGULAR SEASON Memphis won 92-88 in Memphis
TULSA (1994)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Arkansas won 103-84 in Dallas
REGULAR SEASON Arkansas won 93-91 (OT) in Tulsa
MEMPHIS (1995)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Arkansas won 96-91 (OT) in Kansas City, Mo.
REGULAR SEASON Arkansas won 88-87 in Fayetteville
