This article originally appeared on January 1, 2014 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.
One thing holding Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament hopes back is the
strength of the Southeastern Conference.
Many experts agree that the total number of SEC teams selected to
participate in March Madness will dictate whether the Razorbacks will make the
cut.
If only three or four teams make it, Arkansas will be on the
bubble, but if five or six make it, the Razorbacks should make the tournament.
During nonconference play, the SEC has struggled. Including the
Razorbacks’ schedule, the SEC is 4-15 against ranked opponents.
It also has a subpar .421 winning percentage versus teams in the
other “Big Seven” conferences, which, along with the SEC, are the American,
ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII and Pac-12.
In the most recent Associated Press poll, only three teams were
ranked. Florida, Kentucky and Missouri ranked No. 12, No. 15 and No. 25,
respectively. LSU received one vote, which is good for 38th in the country.
Florida, Kentucky and Missouri seem to be locks for the NCAA
Tournament, barring a collapse in conference play, but the field after that
isn’t as clear.
LSU has established itself as the eighth-best rebounding team in
the country, with 43.2 per game, and has solid neutral site wins over St.
Joseph’s and Butler and a road win over Texas Tech. However, the Tigers lost to
their only opponent ranked at the time of the game, No. 21 Memphis, and on the
road to UMass, which is No. 23 in the most recent AP poll.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s 2014 bracketology, released Dec. 16, projects
Tennessee and Arkansas making the tournament, as well.
He has the Volunteers as one of his “last four in.” Victories over
Xavier and Wake Forest at neutral sites and Virginia at home boost Tennessee’s
resume. Unfortunately for the Volunteers, they have not capitalized on other
resume builders.
Losses to Xavier and No. 12 Wichita State on the road and to North
Carolina State at home have neither hurt nor helped Tennessee, while a loss to
UTEP on a neutral court definitely didn’t help it.
The Razorbacks will have an opportunity to strengthen their resume
in conference play, as they play the top three SEC teams a total of five times.
Arkansas plays Florida, Kentucky and Missouri at Bud Walton Arena and the
Tigers and Wildcats again, but on the road.
This is the 19th of a series of short articles about the Arkansas basketball team. Each
day leading up to SEC play, I will post an entry about something basketball
related that starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Here are links to the
previous entries, as well as the dates for the next five…
T – Jan. 2
U – Jan. 3
V – Jan. 4
W – Jan. 5
X – Jan. 6
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