If you're an Arkansas basketball fan, you had to love the other results from SEC basketball over the past 48 hours. Let's take a look:
SEC basketball's midweek slate on Tuesday and Wednesday produced tremendous results for Arkansas hoop fans. This latest batch of SEC games could not have gone any better from a Hog-centric perspective.
Let's start with the big one: Vanderbilt remained unbeaten with a win over Alabama in Memorial Gym in Nashville. Alabama was second-best against VU on Wednesday night, but the Crimson Tide might still have a higher ceiling than Vanderbilt when they are at their very best. If Arkansas had to choose between those two teams, it likely would have preferred to see Alabama lose, not Vandy. Vandy's really good, but Alabama losing probably increases Arkansas' SEC title odds a little more.
On a night when Arkansas gave up 87 points but still won, Vanderbilt gave up 90 and still won because it scored 96. Mark Byington continues to do an absolutely incredible job with the Commodores, who showed they are here to stay in the SEC.
The other really big eye-opener from Wednesday was a true shocker. Kentucky, a double-digit favorite at home in Rupp Arena, lost to Missouri. The 73-68 result has Big Blue Nation in an uproar over Mark Pope and athletic director Mitch Barnhart. The pitchforks are out after Kentucky fell to 0-2 in the SEC and 9-6 overall. Kentucky might still make the NCAA Tournament, but it is increasingly likely that if the Wildcats make March Madness, it won't be as anything more than a No. 8 or 9 seed, which means their NCAA Tournament stay is likely to be very brief. For Kentucky, that's a disaster, and it's clear the Cats are not an SEC title contender. Arkansas doesn't have to worry about BBN this year. How sweet is that, especially for John Calipari?
With Auburn losing at home to Texas A&M on Tuesday night, Steven Pearl's team is 0-2 in the SEC. It's hard to think Auburn will be able to contend for the SEC title given the slow start and the obvious difficulties attached to the coaching transition plus the departure of Chad Baker-Mazara, now playing for the USC Trojans. That's another team Arkansas won't have to worry about in the battle for an SEC championship.
Georgia lost to Florida on Tuesday. LSU was upset by South Carolina at home on Tuesday. Texas lost to Tennessee and is 0-2 in the conference. The Hogs love seeing the Longhorns suffer.
Add up all these results, and here's what you have: Five SEC teams are 2-0 in the conference, five are 0-2, and six are 1-1 through two games. Of the five 2-0 teams, three are Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Missouri. None of those three teams are expected to hold up over the course of the season as title contenders. They figure to come down to earth and settle into the middle third of the conference. The only two high-end SEC basketball teams with 2-0 league records are Arkansas and Vanderbilt. If you had told any UA fan in early November that Arkansas would battle Vandy for the SEC championship, you would have been laughed at, but you also would have had fans willing to sign on the dotted line, readily coveting such a scenario if it ever did happen.
Alabama is obviously not out of the race -- it's way too early to say that -- but Arkansas and Vanderbilt do have the inside track. Again, it's hard to think of a set of results more favorable to the Hogs than what we have seen over the past 48 hours.
There are two months of SEC hoops left to go -- we are just getting started -- but so far, Arkansas basketball has put itself in a very strong position in the conference. Let's see if that continues.