The bracket just opened up for Arkansas with fifth-seeded Wisconsin going down in a big upset.
A lot of ink was spilled about the bad hand of cards Arkansas basketball received in the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket. We wrote:
"First of all, Arkansas won the SEC Tournament on a Sunday and is now being shipped to a Thursday-Saturday site with minimal time to rest and recover. Second, Arkansas' already-small time window for turning around to play in the NCAA Tournament is limited even more by the fact that the Hogs will have to commute a long distance. They will go to Portland for this game and weekend. Third, Arkansas fans will have a comparatively tougher time going to Portland than other locations.
"We're not even close to being done here. Arkansas, as a 4 seed, drew the toughest 5 seed in the second round. Wisconsin beat Michigan earlier this season and nearly beat the Wolverines -- a No. 1 seed -- a second time this past weekend in the Big Ten Tournament. It's a brutal Round of 32 draw. Arkansas is in Arizona's bracket, giving the Razorbacks arguably the toughest Sweet 16 draw of any No. 4 seed in the field. Arkansas would have to play Arizona in San Jose -- if, of course, the Hogs are even able to get that far."
How quickly things can change in March Madness.
Wisconsin, the team which -- as we noted earlier this week -- nearly beat Michigan twice, collapsed on defense and blew a late lead to the High Point Panthers, falling 83-82. Wisconsin led by eight points with five minutes left and still led by four points with one minute left, but the Badgers could not play consistent defense and could not score on multiple possessions in the final 55 seconds.
High Point not only won its first-ever NCAA Tournament game; it made fourth-seeded Arkansas a massive favorite in Saturday's Round of 32 in Portland. Arkansas figured to face an uphill battle against Wisconsin given that UA is working with just a six-man rotation and was not going to be as deep as the Badgers if the two teams met. Now, Arkansas gets to face a smaller and far less physically imposing High Point team. Given how easily Arkansas was able to get to the basket against a smaller Hawaii squad on Thursday, the Razorbacks -- who get a day of rest in Portland on Friday after their very short week -- should be licking their (pork) chops at the prospect of going up against the 12 seed and not Wisconsin.