It looks like the Arkansas Razorbacks need just to beat Georgia to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Regardless of what happens during senior day Saturday on the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus, the Hogs have earned a two-game bye in the SEC Tournament.
What is yet to be determined is whether it will be as a No. 3 seed or a No. 4.
If the Razorbacks win against Georgia and South Carolina loses to Ole Miss, then they tie the Gamecocks for third. By virtue of the their win in Columbia, the Razorbacks own the tiebreaker and would get the last game Friday night of the SEC Tournament.
If South Carolina beats the Rebels, it gets the No. 3 and Arkansas goes to the 2:30 p.m. game Friday.
The debate starts with which is the better spot.
The No. 4 seed probably would play Alabama, and the winner of that game would advance to Saturday and most likely face No. 1 seed Kentucky.
The No. 3 seed most likely would face Vanderbilt, with the winner likely to face No. 2 seed Florida in the second game Saturday.
From a journalistic and selfish standpoint the No. 4 seed is more desirable because of deadlines, and it is not uncommon for that last game to start and finish late.
The Hogs have a lot of depth, but the afternoon game gives them plenty of time to recuperate and prepare for Kentucky.
The last game might not be over until midnight, and it will be 2 a.m. before they get to their rooms. A little more than 12 hours later, they'd take on a Gators team that likes to run and gun.
To win it all, a team most likely will have to play Kentucky. Why not go ahead and try to catch the Wildcats looking ahead to the championship game? Or for that matter, their seeding in the NCAA Tournament where Kentucky is hoping to lock down a No. 2 seed.
A win or a loss against Kentucky or Florida will not hurt the Hogs' NCAA Tournament chances, so beating Georgia on Saturday is the most critical game of the season.
But a win over Kentucky might make the Hogs a No. 8 seed, maybe even a No. 7, which is a huge difference because if you win your first game as a No. 8 seed, history says you'll face a No. 1 seed next.
A win by a No. 7 seed likely would mean a matchup against a No. 2 seed, and all the so-called experts believe there is a small drop-off from the No. 1 seeds to the No. 2 seeds.
All of that aside for a moment, what might really have helped the Hogs is if the SEC hadn't gone to one division because they already would have wrapped up the Western Division. Sitting on top of one side of the standings at 12-6 and 23-8 overall (provided they beat the Bulldogs) looks better than having those same numbers and sitting in fourth place.
As it stands today, teams from the old Eastern Division are going to finish 1-2-3. Not much is being said about that, yet in football the SEC West gets tons of talk about being the best division in the country.
The best thing Mike Anderson can do right now is get the Hogs to forget the loss to Florida; put it and some of their poor defensive efforts behind them immediately.
Apparently they had to be reminded after the Wednesday game started that defense rules their offense. The Gators got some easy scores and led by 16 midway through the first half. No one should spot the Gators that big of a lead at home.
The Hogs need to learn from their mistakes, play their game and feed off the crowd. They are one win away from being a part of March Madness.
Sports on 03/03/2017