Arkansas Receives Their Seeding and Opponent for 2022 Big Dance

The Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball team (25-8 overall) received their 2022 NCAA Tournament seeding on Sunday. The fourth-seeded Razorbacks, coached by third year head coach (70-27 overall) will face the 13th seeded Vermont Catamounts of the American East Conference. The game will take place in Buffalo, New York on Thursday. The time is TBD.

How We Got Here

The Hogs looked like a lame duck basketball team during the latter part of non-conference play and the beginning of their SEC schedule. Arkansas lost by double digits to a mediocre Oklahoma Sooners team and a surprising loss in North Little Rock, Ark. to the Hofstra Pride. The Razorbacks would go on to start 0-3 in the SEC with losses to Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. With a NET ranking in the mid-90’s, Musselman had his team look deep within themselves and find their identity.

With stifling defense, the Razorbacks would hold their opponents to 62.2 points per game during a nine-game winning streak that included a court storming 80-76 victory over then top ranked Auburn. The Hogs went 5-2 down the final stretch of the season only losing by a combined five points against Alabama and Tennessee on the road.

Arkansas defeated LSU for a third time this season in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinal winning 79-67. The red-hot Aggies with their ‘Big Dance’ hopes on the line in the semifinal defeated the Hogs 82-64.

Opponent Notes

Vermont finished the conference tournament with a 28-5 record and 17-1 overall in conference. The Catamounts have won their last eight games, including a 38-point victory over UMBC in their conference championship game.

NCAA Tournament Notes

• The Razorbacks are in the tournament for the second season in a row. This is the first time Arkansas has received an NCAA Tournament bid in back-to-back seasons since 2017-2018.
• With the four-seed, Arkansas now has been a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. This is the first time that has happened since the 1994-1995 championship game appearance.
• Musselman is the first head coach to lead the Razorbacks to two NCAA Appearances in his first three seasons as head coach. His first season was cut short due to Covid-19 when the Hogs were on the bubble and needed to reach the semifinals of the conference tournament to have been considered.
• The West region features the overall number one seed, Gonzaga Bulldogs, two seed Duke Blue Devils, six seed Alabama Crimson Tide.