Like It Is

UA has little to gain from SEC Tournament

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson reacts to a call during a game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson reacts to a call during a game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Before the Arkansas Razorbacks take the basketball court March 13 in the SEC Tournament, their seeding for the NCAA Tournament will most likely be set.

If they win the whole thing or lose their first game, it probably will not affect who or where they play.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee, a 10-person panel, is human -- yes, athletic directors are human, too -- and it would be almost impossible to wait until every conference tournament is finished to decide the field of 68.

The SEC Tournament could affect LSU or Texas A&M, two teams that are more on the bubble than in the NCAA Tournament. If Tennessee gets hot and wins the conference tournament and the automatic bid -- yes, crazier things have happened, just not recently -- the SEC would not get seven teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Someone would be left out, because six is all the SEC can dare hope for after getting only three last year, even though two made the Final Four and Tennessee advanced to the Sweet 16.

What has helped the SEC is an improved nonconference schedule and Kentucky.

If that part about Kentucky tastes bad, take big bites.

Kentucky, being undefeated with several quality victories, raises the RPI of every team in the conference.

Losing to the Wildcats does not hurt a team, especially losing to them in Rupp Arena. Arkansas even improved in one RPI from No. 18 to No. 17 after losing at Kentucky on Saturday.

If the season ended today, the Wildcats would be the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and Virginia, Duke and Villanova (the team that kills my bracket every year) would be the other No. 1 seeds.

Arkansas looks to be a solid No. 5 seed. Ole Miss and Georgia would be No. 8 seeds, and Texas A&M and LSU No. 10 seeds.

The big questions are who do these teams play and where.

For several years, the selection committee -- along with everyone else employed by the NCAA -- used the term "student-athlete" in almost every sentence. Such as: "We had spaghetti and salad for lunch and hope our student-athletes fared as well."

Recently -- like in the past three years -- the selection committee has paid closer attention to how far it sends teams away from their campus.

Part of that is so the student-athlete doesn't miss too much class time, but it also puts more behinds in those high-dollar seats.

The Razorbacks aren't really that close to any of the eight first-weekend sites, but they should not have to travel to Portland, Ore., or Seattle when there will be plenty of teams from the West in the tournament.

Early predictions had the Hogs going west, but now the prognosticators seem to be leaning toward Jacksonville, Fla. At least it is in the south.

Most likely Kentucky will go to Louisville, Ky. If the Razorbacks finish second in the SEC, which they could sew up tonight, Arkansas should get the next closest site, which is Omaha, Neb., but that has to be a Midwest Regional and a decent fit for LSU and A&M.

Anyway, it looks like if the Razorbacks win tonight at South Carolina they will be a No. 5 seed regardless of how they do at the conference tournament.

Conference tournaments are still important. If they didn't have them, no coach could say: "It is a new season and everyone is undefeated."

They are especially important for the mid-major conferences, where every year there are upsets and the regular-season champions get knocked out of an NCAA Tournament bid.

That is why yours truly believes the automatic bid should go to the regular-season champion and conference tournaments should be about at-large bids.

Regardless, the Razorbacks are back where they belong, in March Madness.

Sports on 03/05/2015

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