Leave it to the NCAA and CBS to put Arkansas in the West Regional in Jacksonville, Fla.
And not announce that region to last.
Regardless, it was like old times for Arkansas Razorbacks fans as they sat glued to their televisions waiting to hear the field of 68, knowing the Hogs were respected and would seeded at least No. 5.
Arkansas will face No. 12 seed Wofford, winner of the Southern Conference. The Terriers won the regular season and the conference tournament to punch their ticket.
This is not a team to take lightly. It played Duke, a No. 1 seed, in December and got beat 84-55. But the Terriers never quit playing hard. They also played North Carolina State, a No. 8 seed in this March Madness, and won 55-54.
The main thing is, the Hogs are dancing for the first time since 2008.
Their seed wasn't changing going into Sunday's SEC Tournament Championship game. The Kentucky Wildcats were set as the overall No. 1 seed and the Hogs were set as a No. 5.
Kentucky might have won again on Sunday, but one thing was crystal clear when the Wildcats beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, 78-63, for the SEC Tournament Championship: The Hogs are still improving.
The Razorbacks lost at Rupp Arena 84-67 back on Feb. 28 but trailed by as much as 31 points in the second half. Sunday, the Hogs spotted the Wildcats a 16-point halftime lead but crept within nine points four times in the second half.
The Hogs outscored the 'Cats 14-7 to narrow the gap, and the Razorbacks suffered unforced turnovers while doing so.
Those mental mistakes did not cost Arkansas the game.
Kentucky appears to be unbeatable as it plays great defense, holding opponents to an average of 37-percent shooting from the floor.
Arkansas hit 44 percent for the game but had to make 15 of 23 shots in the second half (65 percent) to reach that level.
What makes the Wildcats' offense so good is size, depth and talent. And they are a very unselfish team, especially considering there were eight McDonald's All-Americans playing for UK Sunday. The 'Cats finished with a team total of 16 assists.
Kentucky is, to put it lightly, a great passing team.
Now the 'Cats enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, with a 34-0 record and a shot at winning 40 games. That would break the all-time single-season record for victories, set by Kentucky in 2012 when it won 38 games and lost only two.
Ironically, Kentucky Coach John Calipari would have achieved that record, 38-2, when he was the head coach of the Memphis Tigers, but Calipari and the team vacated every game of that 2008 season.
Sunday, Calipari didn't start pulling his sensational starters until 1:36 was left to play and he finished the chore with just four seconds to play.
Calipari said last week his Cats were tired of practice, that they just wanted to play games, and so he let them.
Now comes the survive-and-advance season, the NCAA Tournament. Having played the Wildcats twice this season, and improving from the first game to the second, might bode well for the Razorbacks.
It appears Arkansas can't draw an opponent any tougher than Kentucky unless it is the Wildcats.
Of course the thing that will be said by almost every coach who made the field of 68 is that it is an all-new season and anything can happen.
Which to a degree is true, except for Kentucky. The Wildcats enter the final three weeks of the season trying to achieve the seventh perfect season by an NCAA Division I men's basketball team.
It won't be easy, but the Wildcats appear to have everything it takes to continue the climb to perfection.
Sports on 03/16/2015