SEC Basketball: Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama rise in latest power rankings
By Joey Loose
10. Arkansas (9-6, 0-2)
The work that Eric Musselman has done with this Razorbacks program has been legendary. He’s taken Arkansas to three straight NCAA Tournaments, including back-to-back Elite Eight’s and a Sweet Sixteen run last year. They’ve been a potent program loaded with talent that plays hard defense. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks aren’t quite continuing the trend into 2024.
The season has been a struggle by all accounts for the Razorbacks. A home loss to UNC Greensboro tainted the beginning of the season and was soon followed by losses against Memphis, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. They haven’t only been drilled by contenders, as they do have a great home win over Duke back in late November, but each of these losses sullies that performance. Most recently, they’ve gotten conference play off to a really bad start, losing by 32 at home to Auburn before falling to Georgia earlier this week.
A roster with Trevon Brazile, Davonte Davis, and Tramon Mark wasn’t supposed to be struggling like this. Arkansas doesn’t have the same names as those recent postseason runs but the talent is here for this team to be better than 9-6. It’s not just the losses; it’s been their performances as well, with the offense really struggling in recent weeks and the defense having some bad games even in victories. Again, the talent is there and this might be the best team at the bottom of the standings in a power conference league.