So, what does a lower seed in the football playoffs get you?
If you're Gravette, nearly 1,400 miles worth of pavement. That's the distance Gravette, a No. 4 seed, will have traveled after tonight for two playoffs games.
The Lions traveled to Pocahontas last week and won a first-round game, 37-27. Their reward is a second-round trip today to Hamburg, which is located in southeast Arkansas near the Mississippi and Louisiana borders.
If you were to slice Arkansas diagonally, you'd start near Gravette and finish near Hamburg. Even when I worked at the newspaper in Pine Bluff, I dreaded covering games at Hamburg because I thought it was too far.
But I'm not as tough as the Lions, who'll load up before 8 a.m. this morning and return home around 5 a.m. on Saturday.
"We're yellow dogging it with two buses all the way," Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said. "That kind of ruins your Saturday, but we're happy to still be playing."
Gravette (7-4) can't afford to be leg weary at the outset because they'll be confronted in Scottie Pippen's home town by athletes who are quick, elusive, and rested. The Hamburg Lions scored 48 points in the first half and defeated Highland 55-12 on its home field last week
Gravette's challenge is formidable, especially with the travel, but success can happen. In 2011, Farmington went 8-0 on the road, including playoff wins at Heber Springs and McGehee, before losing at Malvern.
Gravette beat an 8-2 team last week with its best performance of the year at Pocahontas. They'll have to play even better to overcome the obstacles they face in Round 2 of the playoffs.
RICK'S PICK Hamburg
Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections are capitalized).
CLASS 7A
Bryant at SPRINGDALE HAR-BER
Conway at FAYETTEVILLE
BENTONVILLE at Fort Smith Northside
CLASS 6A
El Dorado at GREENWOOD
CLASS 5A
Watson Chapel at ALMA
CLASS 4A
SHILOH CHRISTIAN at Heber Springs
Pea Ridge at NASHVILLE
Gravette at HAMBURG
Central Arkansas Christian at PRAIRIE GROVE
Ozark at GOSNELL
CLASS 3A
Smackover at CHARLESTON
Elkins at GLEN ROSE
CLASS 2A
Mountainburg at DES ARC
Hackett at ENGLAND
LAST WEEK 9-1 (90 percent)
OVERALL 140-39 (78 percent)
Sports on 11/18/2016