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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNLunardi">@ESPNLunardi</a> Thurs 9:30 ET LAST 4 IN Arkansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Providence FIRST 4 OUT St. John's, Florida St, Oregon, Missouri</p>— Chris Farrow (@chrisjfarrow) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisjfarrow/statuses/439231915753996288">February 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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The Razorbacks e-freaking-normous win in Lexington last night catapulted the Hogs from pretty clearly on the outside of the bubble to squarely in the NCAA Tournament.
Joe Lunardi now has Arkansas as the first of his Last Four In, meaning he has the Razorbacks playing in one of those awful games in Dayton, the official "first round". Jerry Palm, who has been a bigger proponent of Arkansas lately, has Arkansas as an 11-seed in the Tournament, playing UConn in Milwaukee.
But Arkansas absolutely still has work to do. No Tournament spots are guaranteed yet. There are still three regular season games to play as well as the SEC Tournament.
I still think Arkansas must win these last two games in Bud Walton against Georgia and Ole Miss. I don't see how Arkansas can afford a home loss right now to a team outside the RPI top-50, and the Bulldogs and Rebels are currently ranked 80 and 81, respectively.
The Kentucky victory surely eases the pressure on winning games after those two home games. I don't know that the Alabama game or the SEC Tournament are now quite as important as they were yesterday. I don't think Arkansas has to make it to Saturday of the SEC Tournament anymore.
While Georgia and Ole Miss aren't elite teams, they are respectable teams, and ones good enough to give the Hogs a little more resume credit. The Hogs need those games to solidify their place in the Tournament, and hopefully boost their seeding enough to avoid Dayton.
It's a good sign that the Georgia game was sold out before the Kentucky game even tipped off. It should be one of the biggest crowds of the season, and coming off the Kentucky win, excited crowds of the season.
It's been a very long time since Razorback basketball fans got to welcome the team back after a huge road win with a rabid audience for the following home game.
