FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – After falling in the SEC Tournament championship game, Arkansas didn’t have to wait long to find out their NCAA Tournament fate.
Arkansas was selected as the No. 8 seed in the South Region with the opening two rounds to be playing in Greenville, S.C. The Razorbacks will face Seton Hall on Friday in the opening round. The winner would likely play No. 1 seed North Carolina on Sunday.
Seton Hall went 21-11 and finished tied for third in the Big East with a 10-8 mark. The Pirates lost to Villanova in the tournament semifinals and have a RPI of No. 44 in the nation. Seton Hall was 4-7 against the top-50 in the RPI and just 9-10 against the top-100.
Arkansas and Seton Hall have squared off just once in history. The Razorbacks won 71-62 in 2010 as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational.
The Razorbacks were one of the hottest team’s among power-five conferences as they had won eight of their last nine games heading into the SEC tournament championship game against No. 8 Kentucky. The lone loss during that stretch was at No. 12 Florida. Arkansas fell 82-65 against the Wildcats in the SEC title game.
Arkansas posted a 23-8 record in the regular season, including a 12-6 mark in SEC play, but failed to notch a win against a team in the top-25 of the RPI but finished with five wins against the top-50 and 11 victories against the top-100. Losses to Mississippi State (No. 144 in the RPI) and Missouri (No. 254) are considered the only bad losses on the Razorbacks’ resume.
Non-conference opponents Minnesota, Oklahoma State and Mount St. Mary’s (automatic bid) were selected to the NCAA Tournament.
The Razorbacks improved their stock over the weekend as they picked up wins over Ole Miss and Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament and that boosted the Razorbacks’ RPI to No. 25 as of Sunday morning.
Villanova received the top overall seed as is the No. 1 seed in the East Region while SEC members No. 4 seed Florida and No. 7 seed South Carolina will join the defending national champions in the East.
Kansas was selected as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region while Louisville received the No. 2 seed.