HawgBeat's coverage of Arkansas's journey in the 2021 NCAA tournament is present by Wright's Barbecue. Already serving up the best meats in Arkansas, you can now also find Wright's meat rub and sauces at Walmart and Walmart.com.

The first round of the NCAA Tournament tips off on Friday, as the 3-seed Arkansas Razorbacks face the 14-seed Colgate Raiders at 11:45 a.m. This will be the first meeting ever between these two squads.

The Razorbacks have earned their 34th NCAA tourney bid and have an overall record of 42-32 in the tournament. Their best finish was in 1994 when they won the championship against the Duke Blue Devils. Arkansas is ranked a top-4 seed in the tournament for the 12th time since 1979, and they are ranked a 3-seed for the second time in program history.

The Colgate Raiders are in the Big Dance for just the 4th time in their program history. They finished the season with a 14-1 record and are currently on a 13-game win streak heading into the matchup with the Hogs. The high-scoring Raiders are looking to pull off the major upset facing their best opponent of the year in the Razorbacks.

Here is everything you need to know for the matchup with the Raiders:

Tip-Off: 11:45 a.m. (Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis)

TruTV: (Spero Davis, Brendan Haywood, Lauren Shehadi)
Razorback Sports Network: (Chuck Barrett, Matt Zimmerman)
Westwood One: (Kevin Kugler, P.J. Carlesimo)
Satellite Radio: XM: 207, Sirius: 137, Online Channel: 967

Arkansas -8.5, O/U 161.5
ESPN BPI gives Arkansas a 69.9% chance to win

G Jordan Burns: The senior out of San Antonio, Texas, was the Patriot League player of the year. He leads the team in points per game (17.0 ppg), assists (5.4 apg), and steals (1.6 spg).

F Keegan Records: The 6-foot-10 sophomore from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, leads the team in rebounds (6.9 rpg) and is 5th on the team in points (9.3 ppg).

G Jack Ferguson: The senior from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is second on the team in points (12.6 ppg) and shoots 50.7% from the 3-point line.

Scoring Offense: 7th (82.4 ppg) | 2nd (86.3 ppg)

Scoring Defense: 188th (70.7 ppg) | 122nd (68.6 ppg)

FG%: 89th (45.5%) | 7th (49.8%)

3pt%: 162nd (33.9%) | 3rd (40.0%)

3pt DEF: 112th (32.6%) | 1st (26.1%)

AP Top 25: 10th | 0 votes

NET: 14 | 9

KenPom: 18 | 84

Sagarin: 14 | 67

ESPN BPI: 14 | 44

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