Don’t let Fairleigh Dickinson and Princeton’s underdog magic distract you from one of the biggest stunners over the weekend. Arkansas Basketball, who has fought injuries and general underachievement all season long, knocked off the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.
Kansas was one of the most battle tested teams in the entire tournament and to me, had the most impressive resume of anyone coming into the event. But, as we see so often in this tournament setting, that sexy resume did them no good against Arkansas. The Hogs went 1-0 that day, Eric Musselman went shirtless and together they shocked the college basketball world by getting into the second weekend of the tournament for the third straight year.
Up next for Arkansas is UConn. The Huskies dominated one of the best defensive teams in the country in Saint Mary’s and made it look easy in the second half. They’re one of the most efficient teams in all of college basketball and posted 13 wins in a very competitive Big East conference. They have great bigs with Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan, they have three-point shooters that can cause separation (Tristen Newton and Jordan Hawkins combined to knock down seven three-pointers against Saint Mary’s) and they’re very sound on the defensive end.
The UConn Huskies have the feel of a team that can make a Final Four run now that Kansas is out of the way. But when I look at this game on paper, I see a potential nightmare matchup for UConn. If there is any coach in the country who can exploit a bad match-up in the NCAA Tournament, it’s Eric Musselman. They don’t call him MusselMarch for nothing (and by “they” I mean me).
If Arkansas wants to shock the college hoops world again and make it to their third straight Elite Eight, there are three things they’re going to have to take advantage of.