NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 10 matchups for 2022 Big 12 vs SEC Challenge
By Andrew Tineo
2. West Virginia at Arkansas
Two of the best teams from each conference
What could go down as the overall best game of the slate, West Virginia vs. Arkansas has all the buzz for a top 10 matchup in late January?
The Mountaineers have been the winners of the Big 12 when it comes to keeping players from the year prior. Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman both made decisions to stick around another year, to collaborate with Derek Culver. Deuce McBride is the lone Mountaineer yet to make a decision.
For Arkansas, Eric Musselman reached new heights with the program last season, with their highest finish since 1995. Musselman lost Moses Moody to the NBA draft, but that was a given. The frontcourt does thin out as well, with Justin Smith and Jalen Tate testing the waters
JD Notae in his senior campaign will get more shots coming his way, as well as, four players through the transfer portal that are immediately eligible. The most notable duo that will help Notae in the backcourt is Pitt’s Au’Diese Toney and Chris Lykes.
Both however couldn’t be built any more different as Toney’s height and length is similar to Moody’s, as he stands 6’6. Lykes however, gets his baskets at a much tougher rate, standing at 5’7.
Regardless of Lykes’s stature, he filled it up at Miami (Fl.) last year, with 15.5 points per game, while shooting 45% from beyond the arc.
The guard play in this game should be elite, and West Virginia is a team that will grind out games and plays tough for 40 minutes. With all the enticing coaching matchups, Bob Huggins vs. Eric Musselman might be one of the best, in a game where elite guard play will face a defense that could make this game ugly.