17. Arkansas (12-4)
The defense of the Razorbacks can certainly leave you scratching your head but this team has shown that they can win and compete at a high level. Arkansas has wins over Louisville, Tennessee, and Texas Tech over the last month or so and have a very reliable offense, but John Calipari’s group really needs to find their footing on defense or they can only go so far this season.
It wasn’t a defensive special at all, but Arkansas prevailed on the road Wednesday, winning 94-87 at Ole Miss. Darius Acuff Jr. put up 26 points and 9 assists to lead another great offensive effort. Things really came undone over the weekend, with the Razorbacks losing 95-73 at Auburn in a rough showing. Acuff had 19 points and Meleek Thomas added 17 points but the offense couldn’t outpace another poor defensive performance.
After getting SEC play started on such a high note last week this 22-point loss at Auburn is really mystifying for the Razorbacks. This team has incredible raw talent and playmakers but once again it was that defense bottoming out leading to their worst effort of the season. We’re not giving up on the Razorbacks, especially after just one league loss, as they’ll have a softer landing against South Carolina next week.