NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A slight groan, maybe more of a minor gasp of disappointment, went up when the NCAA Tournament teams for Tulsa were announced and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville wasn't one of them.
The Arkansas Razorbacks, some UA officials and a handful of parents were gathered at Champions, a sports cafe inside the Nashville Airport Marriott for a watch party.
A buffet was set up to one side and the mood was very good.
Getting assigned to Tulsa was probably never going to happen, but going southeast to Greenville, S.C., might have been the second choice. When the announcement was made that the Razorbacks, a No. 8 seed, would play Seton Hall in Greenville, a roar went up and was followed by loud hog call.
The few patrons at the bar, also watching the bracket announcement, turned and looked in surprise. One was wearing a Tennessee baseball cap, so it wasn't clear why he was watching the basketball show.
Actually, Greenville had seemed like a long shot a few moments earlier when it was announced South Carolina was playing there as No. 7 seed, which is a head scratcher unless the selection committee had started the day with bloody marys and switched to mimosas for lunch.
The Gamecocks have lost seven of their past nine games and went out of the SEC Tournament after their first game. And the biggest kicker was they lost to Arkansas in Columbia. And they practically get a home game.
How did they get put in ahead of the Hogs, who are making their third NCAA appearance since 2008 and for the third time will be playing North Carolina if they win?
Not that that matters. It is next to impossible to get the Final Four -- all 68 teams dream -- without beating some good teams, and to get to the Final Four you need depth and luck.
The Razorbacks have depth, and the luck will depend on their defense.
Obviously there are other questionable seedings, including one that might make Greenville especially interesting.
Duke got a No. 2 seed and North Carolina, which lost to Duke twice, the second time in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, got a No. 1.
Both are opening the tournament in the Greenville pod, but North Carolina is in the South Region and Duke the East, so for them to play again it would be in the NCAA championship game in Phoenix on April 3.
Nonetheless, having those two, along with South Carolina, means Greenville will be overflowing with fans. Making dinner reservations will be difficult, and on a personal level, press row will be especially crowded. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels receive heavy coverage, much of it by fans who work in the media so they can get in the games.
Which is something every reporter in the SEC is used to during the conference tournament, when photographers and a few alleged reporters show up sporting Kentucky Wildcats shirts and hats.
It has been that way since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992, and there is no reason to think it will change when the tournament goes to St. Louis for a year.
Apparently it helped the Hogs a little, at least on paper, to have advanced to the championship game. Most believed they were a No. 10 seed, maybe a No. 9. There really isn't much that separates a No. 8 and No. 9, and they get to determine who is better in their first game, anyway.
The winner always gets a No. 1 seed next because no No. 1 has ever lost the first game.
Of course, Mike Anderson and the Razorbacks are not thinking about the second game, and they are no longer just relieved to be in the NCAA Tournament.
All they are thinking about is Seton Hall, a good team out of the tough Big East.
Sports on 03/14/2017