FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For the first since 2018 the Arkansas men's basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament! The selection committee tabbed the Hogs a 3 seed, where they will take on Colgate in the round of 64.
There was no sweating it out on Selection Sunday for the Razorbacks. This is a top ten team, nowhere near the bubble, and even the seeding was barely a question mark. Still, when everything was made officially official, the excitement was palpable.
That buzz was still going strong a few minutes later, when Eric Musselman addressed the media
“I’m ready to rock and roll, let’s do this thing.”
Musselman has been there before. For the entire Arkansas roster, save Jalen Tate, this is something new.
”It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Desi Sills, through a huge grin. “I’ve been here three years, and this is my first time.” Transfer Justin Smith is also making his first tournament.
“I’m excited, it kind of solidifies what we’ve been thinking for the last couple weeks. It’s always exciting just being a part of it and seeing how all the rest of the seedings come out.”
And while Tate has been there before when he played at Northern Kentucky, there’s still a special feeling in 2021.
“After last year, the whole pandemic thing, I’m definitely just excited, just grateful and blessed to be able to play again.”
For the first time since January, the Hogs will be coming off a loss. For dealing with that, Moses Moody says they’ll turn to one of the great thinkers of the 20th century.
“Like Tupac says, forgive but don’t forget.”
Their first-round opponent, Colgate, is mostly a blank slate, for now.
“I mean, I don’t really know a lot about them yet, we’ll take a look the next couple days.”
“It’s a faceless opponent, we gotta treat them as if they were a SEC team, or any other team in the country.”
“I don’t know too much about them, they score a lot, and I hear they got a lot of shooters.”
But the Red Raiders weren’t a complete surprise to all of the Hogs, says Musselman.
“Coach Ruta had this thing nailed. We had a five hour bus ride, where Coach Ruta was just hammering home Colgate.”
The madness starts Friday, but Sunday was all about March Merriment, especially for the team’s lone Veteran, Sills.
”You can see my face, I can’t stop smiling, it’s a wonderful feeling. My first experience for three years, I’m happy to be here and happy to put on for Arkansas.”
It all goes down Friday morning at 11:45 inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse, on TruTV.
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