NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- They were pushing it hard.
Full court. Full speed.
Arkansas was preparing for today's SEC Tournament game with Florida, and it was first five against second five Wednesday. The two units were going at it like the score was tied with a minute to go.
It may not mean anything, but Trey Thompson and Manny Watkins were practicing in white jerseys, usually reserved for the starters.
Today, 12 teams are still dreaming of winning this tournament and making it to the NCAA Tournament, and in a league where co-champion Kentucky lost to Auburn and Tennessee -- both of whom were in Wednesday's play-in game -- anything is possible.
The SEC has only two teams ranked in the Top 25, Nos. 16 Kentucky and 17 Texas A&M. The Aggies face the winner of today's Arkansas-Florida game.
It may not be probable to win four games in four days, but it happened in 2000 when the Arkansas Razorbacks were the first team to pull it off. Georgia did it in 2008, but those are the only two teams to do it since the league expanded in 1992.
As the Hogs were getting their lone practice in Bridgestone Arena, the rims appeared to be tight. That's not a good thing when you have sharpshooters such as Dusty Hannahs and Anthlon Bell, but getting a feel for the floor and the shooting depth at Hawgball speed was important.
This may not be an old-fashioned Hawgball team, but the Razorbacks do press and trap and were second in SEC play in steals, averaging 7.5 per game, just behind Ole Miss, the dark horse to win this tournament.
Of course no team is going to win four games in four days without the most important ingredient -- depth. Mike Anderson feels good about his team's depth, saying his bench had played well the past five games, excluding Saturday's loss to South Carolina.
When the Hogs started their four-game winning streak before the South Carolina loss, the bench became more productive.
The Hogs got 21 points off the bench against Missouri, 32 against LSU, 27 at Tennessee, 11 at Alabama and 12 in the loss to the Gamecocks.
Anderson has been saying for days that this time of the season is what the Razorbacks are built for, multiple players in multiple games.
Meanwhile, the Gators had a setback when center John Egbunu tore thumb ligaments practicing on Tuesday.
Coach Mike White said the thumb definitely affected Egbunu in Wednesday's practice as he had trouble catching or gripping the ball.
If Arkansas' practice Wednesday was any indication, today's game should be a great one.
The Gators, who won their only game against the Hogs 87-83 in Gainesville, are always in attack mode on defense, and Anderson said the Razorbacks can't afford to be "out-efforted."
While all 12 remaining teams' dream is alive, the reality is this championship, like most of them, runs through Kentucky.
The Wildcats have won 13 tournament championships and were runners-up in four others since 1992.
This year's Kentucky team isn't as talented as some, but it is still a good team.
The Wildcats are favored to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the SEC is still hoping that the Aggies, South Carolina and Vanderbilt will be in that field, too, but at-large bids may not be as easy to come by.
Twelve conferences have finished their tournament and only one No. 1 seed has managed to win the tournament title.
On Wednesday, Anderson and White both said anybody can beat anybody here, and one of them will get a chance to say it again today.
Sports on 03/10/2016