Ole Miss’ 72-59 win against LSU on Thursday night helped clear up Arkansas’ route for next week’s SEC Tournament. Kind of.
For now, the top of the SEC West standings look like this: 1. Mississippi State (9-6), 2. Ole Miss (8-7), 3. Arkansas (7-8) and 4. Auburn (6-9). The Razorbacks will enter the regular season finale against Ole Miss in Bud Walton Arena with a chance to finish second, third or fourth in the division.
Here’s how:
• Arkansas will finish second in the division if it beats Ole Miss, which would make both teams 8-8 in SEC play. The Razorbacks would grab the No. 2 seed thanks to what would then be its 2-0 record in head-to-head games against the Rebels this season. If Arkansas does finish second in the SEC West, it would earn a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament and play the winner of Thursday’s East 3 (Tennessee) vs. West 6 (LSU) game on Friday at 2:15 p.m.
• Arkansas will finish third in the division if it loses to Ole Miss and Auburn loses at Alabama on Saturday. That would put the Rebels at 9-7, Arkansas at 7-9 and Auburn at 6-10. The Razorbacks would have to play on the first day of tournament, facing the East 6 seed (Georgia or South Carolina) on Thursday at 8:45 p.m. The good news: Arkansas beat both of those teams earlier this year. The bad news: The winner of Arkansas-Georgia/S.C. will play East 2 (Vanderbilt) on Friday.
• Arkansas will finish fourth in the division if it loses to Ole Miss and Auburn beats Alabama on Saturday. That would make Arkansas 7-9 and Auburn 7-9. Arkansas and Auburn split their season series, so the Tigers would get the three seed in this scenario with a better record vs. the SEC West. Auburn would be 6-4 and Arkansas 5-5. If this happens, Arkansas would face East 5 (Georgia or South Carolina) on Thursday at noon. The winner advances to play Kentucky on Friday.
No matter which path, Arkansas’ goal in the SEC Tournament will be to win games. Lots of games.
So what would be the best route for the Razorbacks to accomplish it? Good question. As I wrote in yesterday’s lengthy blog post, nothing looks easy or likely for Arkansas largely because of the strength of the SEC East. No path through the tournament can avoid teams like Kentucky, Vanderbilt or Tennessee along the way.
I’ll have more on the Arkansas basketball team later this afternoon after coach John Pelphrey and selected players meet with the media.
