Arkansas Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Razorbacks

Schedule outlook

Teams from power conferences have the liberty of building their non-conference schedules however they like, knowing they have a conference schedule to fall back on to help build their tournament resume. A team can pack in winnable games early to help build confidence, they can choose to challenge early to get them ready for a tough conference slate, or in the case of Arkansas they can try to blend the two.

The Razorbacks begin the year with home games against Mercer and Gardner-Webb, and then head to Kansas City for the Hall of Fame Classic where they face Kansas State and then either Cincinnati or a pesky Illinois squad. They then return to Bud Walton Arena for a four-game homestand with Penn, Central Arkansas, Little Rock, and Charlotte.

In December they have two neutral-site games with future conference foe Oklahoma and Hofstra. While there may be some tough games, if a matchup with Illinois doesn’t happen, there isn’t a ton of meat on the bone in the non-conference for Arkansas.

Then comes SEC play where the Razorbacks’ toughest stretch of the entire season comes at the end, when six of their last seven games come against Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and LSU. When seeding for the conference tournament may be on the line, the rubber will hit the road for the Muss Bus heading into March.