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Published Jan 29, 2020
ESPN BPI projects Arkansas' remaining 12 games
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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With the Big 12/SEC Challenge in the rearview mirror, only conference games remain for Arkansas during the regular season.

Sitting at 15-4 overall and 3-3 in SEC play, the Razorbacks are in a good spot to make the NCAA Tournament. They're a No. 9 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology for ESPN and a No. 8 seed on BracketMatrix.com, which combines many projections across the internet.

All 105 projections on that site have Arkansas among the field of 68, ranging from a No. 4 seed to a No. 11 seed.

However, the Razorbacks have to keep winning to remain on the right side of the bubble. That starts with a matchup against South Carolina in Fayetteville on Wednesday.

According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, they have an 85.7 percent chance to beat the Gamecocks, making it their most likely win left on the schedule. They are also heavy favorites against Missouri (82.5%), Texas A&M (78.5%) and Tennessee (73.3%).

Arkansas is currently favored in nine of its last 12 games, with road games at Alabama (43.7%), Tennessee (38.2%) and Florida (25.6%) being the exceptions.

It would not be accurate to say the BPI is predicting the Razorbacks to go 9-3 down the stretch, though, because they still have a chance to win their games as underdogs and lose their games as favorites.

Using those percentages, the most likely - at 23.9% - record for Arkansas over its final 12 games is 8-4. That would make it 23-8 (11-7) entering the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

Including their chances to win nine, 10, 11 and 12 of their remaining games, the Razorbacks have nearly a 50-50 shot - 48.6% to be exact - of winning at least 23 games in head coach Eric Musselman's first season, according to the BPI.

Here is a complete breakdown of the BPI's game-by-game projections and Arkansas' chances of various records using those percentages...

Arkansas' Game-by-Game Projections
GameLikelihood

Jan. 29 - vs. South Carolina

85.7%

Feb. 1 - at Alabama

43.7%

Feb. 4 - vs. Auburn

60.9%

Feb. 8 - at Missouri

58.6%

Feb. 11 - at Tennessee

38.2%

Feb. 15 - vs. Mississippi State

65.6%

Feb. 18 - at Florida

25.6%

Feb. 22 - vs. Missouri

82.5%

Feb. 26 - vs. Tennessee

73.3%

Feb. 29 - at Georgia

65.6%

March 4 - vs. LSU

62.8%

March 7 - at Texas A&M

78.5%

Arkansas' Record Projections
Finish -- Final Record (SEC)Likelihood

12-0 --> 27-4 (15-3)

0.17%

11-1 --> 26-5 (14-4)

1.65%

10-2 --> 25-6 (13-5)

6.84%

9-3 --> 24-7 (12-6)

16.06%

8-4 --> 23-8 (11-7)

23.87%

7-5 --> 22-9 (10-8)

23.81%

6-6 --> 21-10 (9-9)

16.40%

5-7 --> 20-11 (8-10)

7.89%

4-8 --> 19-12 (7-11)

2.63%

3-9 --> 18-13 (6-12)

0.59%

2-10 --> 17-14 (5-13)

0.086%

1-11 --> 16-15 (4-14)

0.0072%

0-12 --> 15-16 (3-15)

0.00026%