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Arkansas Razorbacks Bracketology NCAA Tournament Projections: February 23rd

Many bracketologists try to throw us into a location, but how does that really work?

By RobertBoyd
Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

How close will the Razorbacks be to Fayetteville?  How is that decided?

When the NCAA tournament selection committee puts together their field, they will rank all the teams on an S-curve with their top 1 seed being the best team, and their bot 16 seed being the worst team.  Each team is given priority based on seed for being able to play games closer to their campus.

In other words, if Arkansas is the last 5-seed, they'll get less priority on location than if they're the first 6-seed. The trade-off obviously is that a team theoretically gets an easier path in the bracket as the 5-seed instead of the 6-seed.

Also, tomorrow's opponent, Texas A&M is listed anywhere from a 9-seed, which is pretty solidly in the Tournament, to one of the last four teams in. That uncertainty means tomorrow's game is a really big one for the Aggies as a road win in Bud Walton would be huge for solidifying their resume.

Here's how Arkansas is shaping up after their 6th road win. (the last time Arkansas had 6 road wins in one season was 1995)

  • ESPN: 5-seed in vs Wofford in Seattle. The winner would play the Northern Iowa/Louisiana Tech winner. Lunardi also has tomorrow's opponent, Texas A&M, as a 9-seed, which would mean they're pretty solidly in the Tournament.
  • CBS: 5-seed in Jacksonville vs Valparaiso, with the winner playing the Baylor/Murray State winner. Palm also has Texas A&M as one of his last four teams in the tournament, making tomorrow's game even bigger for the Aggies.
  • USA Today: 5-seed vs Harvard. They don't specify locations. In their bracket, the Arkansas would play the Baylor/Valparaiso winner.
  • Yahoo! Sports: 4-seed. They don't fill out a full bracket but just seed all the teams. They have the Hogs as #14. That would theoretically match up Arkansas with #53 Louisana Tech somewhere.
  • Sports Illustrated: 6-seed vs Illinois in the first round (doesn't specify location). The winner would face the Butler/Eastern Washington winner. (Last Updated Monday)
  • Bracket Matrix, which averages out all the different bracketologists, reports that Arkansas' average down to the top 6-seed.
  • SB Nation: 5-seed in Seattle vs Murray State. That winner would play the Northern Iowa vs Harvard winner.
  • Fox Sports: 5-seed vs Murray State in Seattle. The winner would play the North Carolina/Iona winner.
Formerly, the first three teams from a conference would each be placed into different regionals, until Tennessee was placed in the same regional as Kentucky last year.  However, the selection committee will do everything in its power to make sure that conference opponents don't play until the regional final, but still with the Big East placing 11 teams in the tournament in 2011, exceptions have been made that have allowed conference opponents to play in the round of 32.

All of that being said, as we reviewed last week, the SEC won't be putting 11 teams into the tournament.  Hopefully the tourney doesn't cost Arkansas a game closer to Fayetteville due to avoiding fellow conference foes.

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