Getting Shipped Out West Best Thing for Arkansas Razorbacks

There has been a lot of grumbling about Arkansas getting shipped out West to play its opening round in Portland.

However, the people throwing the fits don't appear to be the type who travel often and they certainly aren't the type who travel with older teens for competitions. Arkansas getting sent to Portland is quite the blessing.

Literally the worst place to be sent from the Central time zone is to a location in the Eastern time zone. The option to go east as a No. 4 seed was Tampa.

Of the available locations, that would have been the worst. Everything is thrown off when competing on the East Coast. Players get hungry around 8 p.m. and they don't start getting tired until around 1 a.m. and the jet lag is awful because everything is an hour earlier.

It's hard for the body to adjust to playing on the East Coast. Had Arkansas gone out there on a Wednesday, by Thursday afternoon, they would have still be dragging and it also clearly made sense to send the higher rated No. 4 seed Alabama there rather than the Hogs.

Okahoma City was technically an option for the No. 4 seed, but since the Razorbacks are the lowest of those seeds, that one went to Nebraska, leaving West Coast trips to San Diego and Portland as the other available host sites.

Where playing on the East Coast is a logistical nightmare, going out West for a competition of any kind is an absolute dream. If there is a need to get up at 8 a.m. for an obligation, the players wake up feeling refreshed because their bodies think it's 10 a.m.

At 5 p.m., they're wanting to eat and at 10 p.m. their bodies start wanting to crash. It's rare to find a player out after midnight trying to get into trouble because that's after 2 a.m. to them and they're usually exhausted.

However, for the teams you face from the West Coast, it's early in the morning and there is good reason to be out wandering into trouble late. In Hawaii's case, it's even more extreme.

Hawaii is five hours behind Arkansas. That means while 8 a.m. feels like 10 a.m. to the Razorbacks, it's 5 a.m. for the Rainbow Warriors.

That makes a huge difference. Also, when midnight rolls around and trouble starts popping up, the Hawaii players feel like it's 9 p.m. and Thursday's game is going to feel like it's being played shortly after 10 a.m. rather than a later afternoon time of 3:25 for the Hogs.

As far as flights go, it's about 2.5 hours to Tampa, a shade over three hours to San Diego and right at four hours to Portland. However, as a lot of people know, it's not about getting to the airport, it's about getting out.

Of the three, Arkansas is going to make up the most time on the back end by flying into Portland. In addition to having plenty of time to sleep on the flight, it arrives at the only single terminal airport of the three.

It's very similar to Little Rock. It's quick and easy to get off, quickly get to your bags, actually have the bags show up in a timely manner and get onto the shuttle to the hotel. Both San Diego and Tampa Bay take up quite a bit more time on the back end with their much larger facilities and more crowded baggage and pick-up areas.

Plus, had Arkansas ended up in San Diego, there is far more going on to create distractions and lure players into doing something other than focusing on the game at hand than in Portland. The Oregon site is the perfect incubator for focus on impending success on the court.

Portland Best for Calipari Also

It's probably a good thing Calipari is getting as much distance as possible out in Portland rather than Oklahoma City following his vulgar comments directed toward Arkansas fans earlier this week. His words put fans in a difficult position that might have hurt turnout had the game been nearby and made if difficult to cheer.

Inexplicably, Calipari came out firing to open his press conference following the SEC championship game. He heavily stressed that what matters is the name on the back of the jersey rather than the Arkansas Razorbacks across the front, and stated that if Hogs fans don't like it, they can get over it or he can personally urinate on them.

"It is about the name on the back of the jersey . . . That's what we should be in the business for. You want to win, but it's a name on the back that I'm in the business for now. I kind of been that way and done all right at every school I've been at. So you could say it's wrong, or you can live with it. You could be peed off or peed on. I really don't care."
— John Calipari, SEC Championship postgame press conference

Showing loyalty to the back of the jersey rather than the front is likely why so many NBA players are wearing Arkansas Razorbacks shoes during games rather than their alma mater Kentucky. Always loyalty to one another over school.

Devin Bookers new Arkansas "Book 2's" 👀
These are FIRE. pic.twitter.com/FJKkZBY75n
— Random SEC (@therandomsec) March 7, 2026

Calipari went on to elaborate that he wasn't as interested in winning if it benefitted the fans and the school, but didn't really do anything for the individual players.

"I'm happy for the university, I'm happy for the athletic department, I'm happy for the state," Calipari said. "But again, my job is to coach these young people, and their parents have entrusted me with them, and that's why I say it is about the name on the back for me. Now we know what our job is, for the university, for the administration, for the state, but not at their expense."

It's unclear what triggered those comments. Just that they have led to a lot of confusion and concern about where the line is as far as Calipari no longer being willing to fully pursue a national championship for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the best interest of the player.

Portland Best for Calipari Also

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