Until Tuesday night, no No. 1 team will have ever come to Bud Walton Arena.
But Arkansas isn’t looking at it that way. Instead, it’s more like no No. 1 team has ever left Bud Walton Arena with a victory.
The Razorbacks are seeking a ninth straight win, and eighth straight in SEC play, when top-ranked Auburn visits Fayetteville on Tuesday. The game is Arkansas’ first against an AP No. 1 since playing Kentucky in 2015 SEC Championship.
Auburn has a 57.5% chance to win the game, per ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. The Tigers have 19 straight games and are entering their third week as the top team in the country. Last time out, however, they needed a last-second hoop against Georgia to avoid falling to the SEC’s cellar dweller.
Perhaps more important than the AP ranking is the NET ranking. At least, that’s what those in-the-know tend to say. There Auburn is No. 7 and Arkansas is No. 37.
But in the most traditional poll, the Tigers are at the summit and Arkansas checked in just outside the the Top 25.
A win Tuesday would all but ensure, for the Hogs, anyway, that isn’t the case next week.