Despite a back-breaking home loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Arkansas basketball still has a path out of Wednesday Sadness at the SEC Tournament.
For those unfamiliar with the bracket in Nashville, the bottom four teams in the league standings must win five games in as many days to hoist the hardware.
The only path to the NCAA Tournament for the Razorbacks (14-14, 5-10 SEC) is the automatic bid for winning the SEC Tournament, so the path of least resistance is the most desirable.
As things currently stand, Arkansas finds itself in an 11th-place tie with Georgia and one game behind Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
The Razorbacks will need to pass two of the three to earn a bye to Thursday action at Bridgestone Arena.
Eric Musselman is certainly well-aware of all the scenarios at play, but the top priority for the Hogs is to handle their own business.
“You discuss the state of where you are based on where your team is mentally,” Musselman said. “At some points, we have discussed it. In other points, there’s been no reason.
“Because we have three games left, and the biggest theme is, ’How do you compete and give yourself a chance to win the next game on your schedule?’ Then if you do that, you know, good things kind of happen.”
Arkansas would likely need to pass Georgia outright since the Bulldogs hold the tie-breaker between the teams.
Although they split two regular-season meetings, Georgia’s win over South Carolina outweighs Arkansas’ best win in league play over Texas A&M.
That could change if the Hogs find a way to beat Alabama in the regular-season finale.
Arkansas does hold the tie-breaker over the Aggies by virtue of its regular-season sweep, but can it pick up a game in the final three?
Ole Miss would be the most improbable of the bunch to leapfrog since the Rebels are a game up in the standings and own the tie-breaker over the Hogs.
Georgia finishes with home games against Texas A&M and Ole Miss, and a regular-season finale at Auburn.
Texas A&M travels to Georgia, hosts Mississippi State and wraps with Ole Miss at home.
The Rebels are at Missouri and Georgia before hosting Texas A&M.
Arkansas, of course, will be locked in on this weekend’s road trip to Rupp Arena, the home finale at Bud Walton Arena with LSU next Wednesday and a Saturday tilt with Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
“In our mind, it’s how do we get ready for Kentucky,” Musselman said. “We can’t control what other teams do in the league.
“We have a very difficult schedule the last three games playing at Kentucky, playing at Alabama, then LSU at home, a team that did what they wanted last time in Baton Rouge against us.”