Hogs' March Madness Trending South According to ESPN's Lunardi
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas' basketball season is trending in a direction that few expected. The Razorbacks started the season at No. 16 in the AP Poll in the preseason. Now, not only did they not receive a single vote in the latest AP Poll, they're also at risk of being left out entirely of the NCAA Tournament entirely after starting 0-3 in SEC play.
According to Bracketology by ESPN's Joe Lunardi, the Razorbacks are the first team left out of the field of 68 and are ranked 49th overall in the NET Rankings. The Hogs have just one win against Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents, the comeback win at Madison Square Garden. Outside of the Michigan won, Arkansas' strongest win is against Lipscomb.
The teams right on the bubble just in front of Arkansas are Creighton, Dayton, Iowa and New Mexico.
NCAA.com's Andy Katz also has Arkansas outside of his tournament field.
The Razorbacks are not one of the 11 SEC teams included in Lunardi's Bracketology. If all of Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Missouri, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt all make the tournament, it would tie the 2011 record set by the Big East for most teams sent to the tournament.
The Hogs will look to remove its name from the list of five teams in the SEC still looking for its first confernce win. Arkansas will tip-off against LSU 8 p.m. Tuesday from Baton Rouge La. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.