FAYETTEVILLE — After its trip to Missouri this weekend, Arkansas will begin preparations for two teams that may have accumulated rust given extended layoffs due to covid-19.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to host Florida (10-5, 6-4 SEC) on Tuesday before traveling to Texas A&M (8-7, 2-6 SEC) on Feb. 20. For the Gators, the game at Arkansas would be their first since a 72-66 loss at South Carolina on Feb. 3.
They have had games at LSU and Tennessee, and a home matchup with Texas A&M postponed.
Meanwhile, the Aggies have been hit even harder by covid-19 protocols. Including its scheduled game at Arkansas last Saturday, Texas A&M has had four consecutive games postponed.
Should the Aggies host Alabama as scheduled on Feb. 17, it would be the their first conference game since Jan. 26. They played Kansas State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Jan. 30.
“When are we going to be able to practice? I can’t answer that,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said Monday on his radio show. “When will we be able to practice and have enough to play 5-on-5? For sure, can’t answer that.
“When will we be able to play another game? I don’t know. It’s not that I’m not trying to answer it, it’s just kind of based on a daily test result.”
As of now, Texas A&M has five games that need to be made up, including a road game at Arkansas that was postponed last week.
Florida has had seven games affected by covid-19 this season, three in the SEC.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman is hopeful the Razorbacks will play the Aggies in Bud Walton Arena on a Saturday as previously scheduled, but that seems to be more and more “problematic” based on the growing number of Texas A&M postponements, he said.
Musselman noted last Friday in an interview with KABZ-FM in Little Rock that it was Arkansas' staff's anticipation that the Razorbacks will host the Aggies the week before the SEC Tournament. The SEC built in an open date for all teams, March 6, to make up games.
The SEC Tournament is scheduled to begin March 10 in Nashville, Tenn.
“I’m going to assume the teams that are on our schedule we'll end up getting to play in some way, shape or form,” Musselman said. “I don't know how. I don't know if it's a change or something eventually changing. We all know we're not going to get all those games in with six days.
“Maybe there's an alteration of the way the schedule goes. Maybe we play a few more games a week than just two as we get down the stretch. I'm not really sure.”