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After holding on for dear life in Tuscaloosa, the Hoop Hogs have 20 wins, at minimum a .500 conference record, and 5 top-50 RPI wins this year. That’s gotta be enough to make the NCAA Tournament right? Here’s how the resume stacks up.
Record: 20-9 (9-7)
RPI: 27
SOS: 50
Non-Conference SOS: 110
Record vs. RPI Top-25: 1-4 (5-6 vs. Top-50)
Conference play is helping the overall strength of schedule, while non-conference opponents staying in their nosedives continues to hurt the non-conference SOS. Last week Arkansas had three top-25 losses but Oklahoma and Texas A&M have since fallen out of that range. There are still five top-50 wins (with a couple away from Bud Walton) and when you compare the Hogs’ resume to some other bubble teams, Arkansas has a pretty comfortable margin. Here are what the experts have, after a loss to Kentucky and win at Alabama, most sites have the Hogs making a slight gain.
ESPN: 8 Seed vs. Miami (Up from 10 Seed Last Week)
A trip to Pittsburgh and a game against Miami is in Joe Lunardi, the OG bracketologist’s, bracket. For the most part they’ve been a team that wins games that they’re supposed to but haven’t pulled a huge upset. Their biggest win is either at Notre Dame or Virginia Tech.
Yahoo: 9 Seed (No Matchups, Down from 8 Seed)
The potential matchups are Arizona State, Virginia Tech, Saint Mary’s, or Miami. If you’re picking from those four the team struggling the most are the Sun Devils. They’ve lost three straight and are falling fast in the Pac-12.
CBS: 7 Seed vs. Virginia Tech (Up from 8 Seed)
Jerry Palm is highest on the Hogs, and pretty consistently has been. This game would be in Detroit and would have a road game against Michigan State coming up after. Do not want.
SI: 9 Seed vs. Virginia Tech (Up from 10 Seed)
Another match against the Hokies here, this one doesn’t have a location but having Villanova in the 1 slot probably means some considerable travel. These matchups show that, like last year, you don’t want to be in that 7-10 seed range. Arkansas getting another couple of wins in the regular season and the SEC tournament and sneaking into a 6-seed would be ideal for the Hogs chances’ at making some noise.