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SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20 season

By Matthew Travis

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 17: The Auburn Tigers hold the winner's trophy after the 84-64 win against the Tennessee Volunteers during the final of the SEC Basketball Championships at Bridgestone Arena on March 17, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 17: The Auburn Tigers hold the winner's trophy after the 84-64 win against the Tennessee Volunteers during the final of the SEC Basketball Championships at Bridgestone Arena on March 17, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 14: Keyontae Johnson #11 of the Florida Gators shoots the ball while defended by Adrio Bailey #2 of the Arkansas Razorbacks battle for a rebound during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 14, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 14: Keyontae Johnson #11 of the Florida Gators shoots the ball while defended by Adrio Bailey #2 of the Arkansas Razorbacks battle for a rebound during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 14, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

10. team. 524. . . . Razorbacks

Just like Texas A&M, Arkansas will have a new head coach heading into the 2019-20 season and that is Eric Musselman. The Razorbacks managed to snag Musselman from Nevada, where he had been the head coach since the 2014-15 season.

In his four seasons with the Wolf Pack Musselman won three consecutive Mountain West regular-season championships, a Mountain West tournament championship and he made it to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

Pretty great for a team that you wouldn’t really think of to be a consistent tournament team. Now Musselman will be shifting his focus to Arkansas and the SEC. Last season the Razorbacks finished 18-16 with an 8-10 record within the SEC.

Not terrible, but also not good enough to make the NCAA Tournament and that is what Musselman will be looking to do in his first season in Fayetteville. The question however is whether or not Arkansas has a team capable of doing so.

Unfortunately, Arkansas will be without their top scorer from 2018-19, Daniel Gafford, as he left Fayetteville for the NBA and was picked 38th overall by the Chicago Bulls. This means that we will need to see other players step up.

Those other players will likely come in the form of Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, Jalen Harris and Adrio Bailey. These four were major parts of the Razorbacks team last season and you should expect each of them to be a large part of this year’s team as well.

Jones is likely the most likely out of this group of four who will take the reigns from Gafford to lead the Razorbacks. Jones averaged the third-most minutes per game last season while also being Arkansas’ third-best scorer with 13.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Not a bad stat line at all and if he is given the ball a bit more each game, there is a very good chance we see him explode and make a name for himself while also helping the Razorbacks get back to the NCAA Tournament.

So what will Arkansas’ record look like when the SEC Tournament rolls around in March? I believe the Razorbacks will go through non-conference play with a record of 9-2. Arkansas’ non-conference schedule is a joke and if they come out of it with anything more than two losses, they will be in a bad position.

Arkansas won’t play a decent team until their 10th game of the season on December 29th when they will face off with the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington and then they follow it up with a game against TCU as apart of the SEC/XII challenge on January 25th.

Until then, the Razorbacks won’t have a single challenge and if they come out of those nine games with even one loss, it would be a disappointment. This being said, that 9-2 record does not at all resemble the talent Arkansas has, it simply resembles how bad their schedule is.

Marching into conference play with a 9-1 record (SEC/XII challenge is at the end of January) the Razorbacks will be in for a rude awakening. In SEC play the Razorbacks will go 7-11 ultimately finishing with a record of 16-13, which may or may not be good enough for a tournament bid.

Ultimately it will be dependent on what they do in the SEC Tournament and if they win a game or two, because if they don’t their resume will not be good enough to get them in.

Arkansas will be an interesting team to watch throughout the 2019-20 season and they will likely be sitting on the bubble for a majority of the season as well.

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