The Arkansas softball regular season came to an end Saturday in a way less than ideal for the No. 11 Razorbacks.
Arkansas lost its series and season finale to Ole Miss, 4-3, ultimately dropping the series to the Rebels two games to one. The Hogs still finished fourth in the SEC standings and will receive the No. 4-seed for the league tournament later in the week.
But falling to the last-place team in the conference isn’t helpful for the bigger picture of Arkansas’ hopes to host in the NCAA Tournament. Certainly coach Courtney Deifel’s team is in prime position and it really is hard to imagine Arkansas not getting hosting duties for the Big Dance.
But what happens if they lose immediately at Auburn in the SEC Tournament? Rhetorical. We would probably still bet Arkansas hosts as a Top-16 seed at Bogle Park for the NCAAs.
Most likely, the loss to Ole Miss was just a hiccup. Arkansas had reeled off five straight SEC series wins before that, anyway. And the flip side is more likely, if also unlikely.
If Arkansas uses the losses to the Rebels as a springboard and goes out to win the SEC Tournament, not only are hosting duties obvious, a top-eight national seed is in play, too.
And that will have made it all worth it.