Is Alabama Basketball's Matchup Against Arkansas a Trap Game? Just a Minute

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral staff writer Hunter De Siver and Will Miller discuss the Alabama men's basketball's upcoming road game against Arkansas, as the Razorbacks don't have much to lose.

“The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.”

Enter head coach John Calipari and the Arkansas men's basketball team, who started the season with an 11-2 record in non-conference play, but has struggled against the best conference in college basketball this season as it's 2-6 in SEC play.

Calipari's signing with the Razorbacks in April was hands down the biggest news of the college basketball offseason as he previously spent 15 years at Kentucky. In that decade and a half, Calipari reached the NCAA Tournament 12 times and it would've been 13 if not for COVID-19's cancellation of 2020 March Madness.

In other words, Calipari almost always seems to find a way into playing basketball in the middle of March. However, this year will be a bit more difficult due to the rough first half against the SEC as the latest ESPN Bracketology with Joe Lunardi has Arkansas as a "next four out" projection and the No. 76 overall team.

That said, Calipari and Arkansas have nothing to lose. This mentality led to the Razorbacks taking down then-No. 12 Kentucky 89-79 on the road this past Saturday. It was Calipari's first game back in Lexington since taking the Arkansas job, and after walking into a Rupp Arena filled with boos, he had the last laugh.

Arkansas has a challenging matchup tonight at Texas (current nine-seed in Bracketology), but if it continues this momentum with a road win against the Longhorns, the Razorbacks' next game at home against No. 3 Alabama could be a trap game for the Crimson Tide.

"It's definitely a trap game and for so many reasons," BamaCentral's Will Miller said. "No. 1, you're going into Bud Walton Arena, which at its best is one of the most imposing environments out there. No. 2, this Arkansas team is riding high right now. Obviously a rough start to conference play, adding that to [freshman guard] Boogie Fland being out for the season. But this big win over Kentucky...I think there's a lot of momentum...John Calipari is hands down one of the best coaches in the sport. They're playing some of their best basketball of the season right now and that's why I think this is a tailor-made trap game for Alabama."

"The turnover battle we're about to see is what's really stood out to me," BamaCentral's Hunter De Siver said. "Both teams are toward the bottom of college basketball in this stat category, however, this is Alabama's biggest weakness. If Arkansas can win this turnover battle, I think it will be huge toward determining the outcome of this game...Due to Calipari's massive success of reaching mid-March, a win against Texas and Alabama will be huge."

The Razorbacks lead the all-time series 36-33 against the Crimson Tide with the first matchup occurring on Jan. 21, 1948. Alabama is 7-21 all-time on the road against Arkansas but has won the last four matchups. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats is 3-5 against Calipari since being hired at Alabama in 2019.

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