Arkansas will play 15th-seeded Ole Miss in the SEC semifinals after Alabama suffered a shocking loss to the Rebels in Friday's quarterfinal round.
The Arkansas Razorbacks watched in amazement as their half of the SEC Tournament bracket opened up on Friday night in Nashville. Before the Hogs even took the court for their own SEC quarterfinal against Oklahoma, second-seeded Alabama lost to 15th-seeded Ole Miss in a seismic upset.
The odds were stacked against Ole Miss going into this game. The Rebels were playing their third game in three days against a fresh and rested Alabama team which was coming into this game playing good basketball. Ole Miss sank to the bottom of the SEC and had played horribly over the past several weeks. This was not the set of circumstances in which Ole Miss figured to play well against Bama. Even though the Rebels bolted to a double-digit lead in the first half, Alabama's fresh legs figured to take over in the second half.
Yet, that never really materialized. Ole Miss was able to stay ahead of the Tide and then win on a blocked shot on Bama's final possession in the closing seconds.
It's true that Arkansas won't have much time to turn around from its SEC quarterfinal against Oklahoma to this game against Ole Miss. However, with Alabama out of the picture, the road gets easier for Arkansas. What also makes things easier for the Hogs is that Ole Miss -- on Saturday -- will be playing its fourth game in four days. If the Rebels' legs powered through the Alabama game on Friday night, it's a lot harder to see Ole Miss being able to last through a full 40 minutes on Saturday afternoon. That needle is going to hit "empty" before too long.
Against Oklahoma, Arkansas and John Calipari played Darius Acuff for all 40 minutes. Arkansas needed every last minute and every last point from Acuff, who scored 37 in the three-point victory. Had Alabama advanced to meet Arkansas in the semifinals, the Hogs would have been in trouble since Acuff would not have been in a position to play maximum minutes. Now, with Ole Miss as the opponent instead of Bama, Calipari should be able to steal several minutes for Acuff in the first half and have him saved for the second half, when Arkansas should be able to grind down the leg-weary Rebels from Oxford.
It's all set up for Arkansas to advance to the SEC Tournament championship game on Sunday. Now the Hogs need to go out there and take care of business against an Ole Miss team which figures to be running on fumes.