Arkansas’ Surprise Run Headlines Chalky NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament is known for upsets and underdog stories.

There weren’t many of those featured this past weekend. The higher-seeded teams held serve throughout most of the games. For the first time since 2017, all of the No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds advanced to the Round of 32. Those first-round matchups were decided by an average margin of over 23 points per game.

A pair of 12-seeds were the lowest-seeded teams that won a first-round matchup. The 12-seed in the West Region, Colorado State, was actually favored over the 5-seed Memphis. McNeese advanced over Clemson, but not before nearly blowing a 24-point lead to a Tigers team out of an ACC that has had a poor showing other than Duke.

The second set of games was much of the same. All four 1-seeds advanced to the Sweet 16. Four of the double-digit seeds making it to the Round of 32 — Colorado State, McNeese, New Mexico, and Drake — lost their second game. It’s left us with a 16-team group comprised of the top teams from the regular season and other usual suspects like Michigan, Michigan State, Kentucky, Purdue, and Arizona.

One team that sticks out — and the lowest remaining seed in the field — is the 10-seed Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas advanced to the Sweet 16 following a win over St. John’s on Saturday. They are the only team below a 7-seed that made it past the first weekend. The next closest are the two 6-seeds in Ole Miss and BYU.

Despite their seeding, the Razorbacks aren’t exactly an underdog. This is an SEC team led by John Calipari and comprised of former elite high schools recruits.

In his first year with the program, Calipari has taken Arkansas further in the NCAA Tournament than any of his Kentucky teams since 2018. The Wildcats were bounced out of the Round of 64 in two of Cal’s last three seasons. This year, Calipari has already put together one of his best tournament runs in years, defeating Rick Pitino’s Johnnies as well as Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks.

Against St. John’s, Calipari’s group came ready to compete defensively. They held the Red Storm to 28-percent shooting from the field and 9-percent from beyond the arc. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. was held to 3-of-17 shooting, and was benched in the second half as the Razorbacks put the game out of reach.

With two wins over Hall of Fame coaches already under their belt, this Razorbacks team has the confidence and pedigree to progress even further this March. Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo led the team in scoring versus Kansas (22) to go along with three blocks and three steals. Former FAU standout Johnell Davis knocked down four threes in that game, and can heat up in an instant. Freshman Boogie Fland hasn’t even gotten going yet, having scored just six points in each of the two tournament games after averaging 14.2 PPG during the season. Former top recruit D.J. Wagner is also primed for a big game at some point.

Arkansas’ balanced attack will aid them moving forward. They managed to win both games without their top scorer, Adou Thiero (15.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG) who has been out since Feb. 22. The junior is working his way back, and could return for the Razorbacks’ Sweet 16 matchup against Texas Tech.

The Razorbacks aren’t your traditional Cinderella. However, in a tournament that has gone mostly chalk, they have a chance to bust plenty of brackets.