Hogs' 'Wiggle Room' for NCAA Tournament Getting Smaller

How this team fares over final month will determine even if they are playing in March

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Feb 13, 2023 9:48 PM EST
Original:
Feb 13, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sorting out the line-up heading into the final month isn't something Eric Musselman planned.

The Arkansas coach probably wasn't expecting to juggle a line-up by shuffling who's available and who's not.

But that's exactly where the Razorbacks find themselves these days and the result won't be determined fully until March.

To repeat their run of the previous two years, the Razorbacks have to make the NCAA Tournament, and while they are "in" right now, according to most projections, that is slipping with recent losses.

Getting his projected best player in Nick Smith back 10 days into the last month of the regular season wasn't part of the plan.

"Not a lot of teams are making that adjustment this late in the year," Musselman said in a press conference Monday. "Obviously we are."

Now they have to go on the road to meet a Texas A&M team that is playing well right now, even though they lost to the Hogs on the last day of January in Bud Walton Arena, 81-70.

Musselman admitted that game means nothing for this one and knows the Aggies have only lost a couple of league games.

"It's going to be a challenging game," he said.

Part of that is more getting Smith back on the floor and fitting in with this team.

Smith played in the loss to Mississippi State in a loss Saturday. The Hogs never could figure it out against the Bulldogs and looked out of sorts almost from the start.

A lot of fans have put the blame on Smith's return breaking up the chemistry of the team right after a road win at Kentucky last Tuesday night.

It was written here immediately afterward that fans shouldn't put Saturday's loss on Smith, who played better than some of the regulars who haven't missed a game.

He's not the only player who's forced a juggling of the schedule this year with Trevon Brazile going down with season-ending knee surgery and various other players missing time (and games) with one thing or the other.

Musselman just wants everybody to start coming together on the floor.

"We don’t have a lot of time to figure this whole thing out," he said. "Every game is magnified from here on out. We have three weeks left in this season. It’s our job to try to do everything we can to win as many games as we can with a very difficult schedule."

That is the problem right now, juggling more line-up changes than just about anybody and now it's getting down to crunch time.

"That’s what we have to do," Musselman said. "That’s our main concern. Our main concern is how do we win as many as we possibly can over this three-week, six-game segment."

That starts with a must-win game in College Station on Wednesday night.