Thanksgiving is no longer the NFL’s exclusive domain as college hoops stakes its claim

Thanksgiving may just be the best day of the year. There’s nothing like gathering with friends and family for some Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and college basketball? That’s right NFL, college hoops is coming out swinging with a marquee matchup on Thanksgiving Day in 2025. 

Duke-Arkansas set to meet in the 2025 CBS Thanksgiving Day Classic

Feast Week has always been the appetizer – or better yet the week-long cocktail hour – in preparation for the main course of professional football on America’s most sports-obsessed holiday. However, with this move to schedule John Calipari’s Razorbacks and Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils for a primetime slot on Thanksgiving, college basketball is looking to position itself as dessert. 

No, nothing will ever replace the tradition of watching the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys in the afternoon and into the evening while stuffing your face with food, but the NFL’s attempt at stretching the Thanksgiving slate into a primetime slot on NBC hasn’t yet been ingrained into the fabric of the holiday. So, while most sports cower at the sight of Roger Goodell’s television supremacy, college basketball is coming at the king. 

College hoops will likely never restore its glory years as one of the most important sports in the country for its entire season but with March Madness as the best tentpole event outside of the Super Bowl, it will always have a place. If the television partners continue to “eventize” early season matchups like this one, then casual sports fans may start to tune in before March 1. 

Future Thanksgiving matchups we’d love to see

Arkansas-Duke is a perfect first contest. No, the Razorbacks are not a blue-blood brand, but Calipari will always be box office. Still, it may be better to stoke the flames of a longtime rivalry on a day when families come together to reignite their own family feuds. 

Here are a couple of non-conference rivals that should consider a meeting on Thanksgiving Day: 

Pat Kelsey has revived the Louisville program and now that basketball is thriving in Kentucky, it should get a massive Holiday spotlight. The Cardinals and Wildcats first played back in 1913, a 34-10 Kentucky victory, and while they’ve only met 57 times, with the Wildcats winning 40 of those, there is real disdain between the two fanbases. 

Yes, this is another Kentucky suggestion, but other than Duke, no team in college basketball draws more eyeballs than the Wildcats. And pairing that with the history and general volatility of the Indiana Hoosiers would make for a fun Thanksgiving matchup steeped in history. The two programs met in the 2012 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments, but their last regular season meeting was in 2011. The Wildcats and Hoosiers have played 57 times and first met in 1924. 

A rivalry lost to conference realignment was reignited in 2021, and the two programs have played in four straight seasons. With Dennis Gates lifting the Tigers to prominence this season, Kansas and Missouri could be a big-time draw. 

Now this isn’t necessarily a rivalry, but Dan Hurley has made the Huskies a major national brand, and a Thanksgiving Day matchup with Duke, where his brother starred in the ‘90s, would be must-see TV. 

Throw out the neutral site, this one would have to be played on campus. Rick Pitino back in Lexington to face his former point guard Mark Pope, count me in. 

Who should be the college basketball Cowboys?

It’s not just that NFL football is on Thanksgiving every year, it’s that the Dallas Cowboys are on every year. Well, if college basketball wants a similar tradition, there is only one program that can live up to that esteem: The Duke Blue Devils

They nailed it in Year 1. 

As for who should play the role of the Detroit Lions lovable losers? I’ll submit the Tennessee Volunteers. BYU, Xavier, and Missouri are the only programs that have made the NCAA Tournament more times without a Final Four appearance.