TAMPA, Fla. — Thirty years after the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team was sent to Milwaukee to play in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, bracket analysts from CBS Sports and ESPN project it to happen again.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and Joe Lunardi of ESPN both project Arkansas as a No. 4 seed playing No. 13 seed Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round in Milwaukee.
The NCAA Tournament’s 68-team bracket will be announced during a selection show that starts at 5 p.m. today on CBS.
Arkansas (25-8) lost to Texas A&M 82-64 on Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals, but the Razorbacks figure to be assured of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid thanks to winning 15 of their last 18 games and finishing fourth in the SEC with a 13-5 record.
After Saturday’s loss, Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman wasn’t in much of a mood to discuss the NCAA Tournament.
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“Right now I’m worried about this game, the holes,” Musselman said. “We don’t have anybody to prepare for right now in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll worry about that [tonight].
“I’ll do our postgame reports and get film to guys individually. There will be a lot of it because we have to get better. That’s not how we want to play.
“So I’m not brushing this [aside] and crumbling up the stat sheet and saying, ‘Well, tomorrow we get to see who we’re playing against, and we’ll get ready for the NCAA Tournament tonight.’
“No. We have to dissect this game. And then, like I said, when we know who our opponent is we’ll get ready to play them.”
Arkansas advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight last season for the first time since 1995, but senior transfers Stanley Umude (from South Dakota) and Au’Diese Toney (from Pittsburgh) never have played in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s always been something I have wanted to do in college basketball, but right now that loss hurts,” said Umude, a fifth-year college player who led Arkansas on Saturday with 20 points. “Maybe when we see our name up there [on the selection show], I’ll feel a little better.”
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In Toney’s three seasons at Pittsburgh, he never played for a team that finished with a winning record.
“It feels exciting,” Toney said of playing in the NCAA Tournament. “I’m looking forward to being able to play with my guys. It’s a blessing.”
Along with Milwaukee, other sites for first- and second-round games where the Razorbacks could be sent are Buffalo, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Fort Worth; Greenville, S.C.; Pittsburgh; Portland; and San Diego.
Musselman, who played point guard at the University of San Diego, will have a team in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the past five seasons it has been held, including his last seasons as Nevada’s coach and the past two at Arkansas.
If Palm and Lunardi are corrected in their projections that Arkansas will play Southern Conference Tournament champion Tennessee-Chattanooga, it will be the Razorbacks’ second game against the Mocs.
Arkansas beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 98-84 on Dec. 20, 2001.