Arkansas basketball is used to slow-ish starts under coach Eric Musselman. In years past, Musselman has turned things around as the season turned to winter and the Hogs have ultimately been to three straight Sweet 16s, two of which were Elite 8s.
The hole in the 2023-24 season, however, may be a more difficult one from which to pull.
Joe Lunardi, one of the first to develop NCAA Tournament prognostication on a mass level, took Arkansas all the way out of his projections with his latest update Tuesday. The Razorbacks aren’t even on his “First Four Out” or “Next Four Out” lists.
Arkansas is 3-4 in its last seven games with losses to Oklahoma, North Carolina, Memphis and North Carolina-Greensboro. The Sooners and Tar Heels are easy “in” for the NCAA Tournament so far this year and the Tigers is a projected 6-seed. Greensboro, for what it’s worth, is projected to finish high in the Southern Conference and have only lost one game, to Vanderbilt, this season.
The Razorbacks’ issue is that they don’t have much room to improve their lot except in SEC play. Three nonconference games remain – against Lipscomb, Abilene Christian and North Carolina-Wilmington – none of which will do much to build an NCAA Tournament resume except by adding to Arkansas’ win total.
That means the Hogs will have to make hay in the SEC. The good news for Razorbacks’ faithful is that the league is projected, by Lunardi, to have nine Tournament teams, giving Arkansas ample opportunity to make up lost ground.
Muss’ bunch just can’t afford too many more missteps.