FAYETTEVILLE — Last season, Arkansas was criticized for its perceived weak non-conference slate, only to get the last laugh when three of its so-called cupcakes pulled off NCAA Tournament upsets.
After Oral Roberts, North Texas and Abilene Christian made them look like geniuses a year ago, the Razorbacks haven’t been quite as lucky so far with their non-conference scheduling in 2021-22.
Despite a perfect 8-0 record, Arkansas checked in at No. 44 in the initial NET rankings released by the NCAA on Monday, with its No. 283 non-conference strength of schedule likely holding it down.
In fact, it is ahead of just one of the 12 remaining unbeaten Division I teams - Weber State - in the NET. The Razorbacks are behind not only the likes of Purdue, LSU and Arizona, the top 3 teams in the NET, but also Wyoming (No. 12), Colorado State (No. 27) and San Francisco (No. 33) among undefeated teams.
The formula is constantly evolving and, in theory, becomes more accurate as it accumulates more data points in the form of games, but the NET isn’t too kind to Arkansas at the moment.
The Razorbacks begin 20 spots lower in the NET than last season’s initial release and are already lower than they were at any point last year, when they bottomed out at No. 39 and were bolstered by a non-conference strength of schedule that debuted and ended the season at No. 114.
As things currently stand, Arkansas has only one Quadrant 1 win and one Quadrant 2 win. The other six victories are in Quadrant 4.
Both of the Razorbacks’ non-Q4 wins came at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. Cincinnati is just inside the top-50 requirement to be a Q1 game for Arkansas, checking in at No. 45. Kansas State is firmly within the top 100 at No. 69, making it a Q2, but it could easily slip if it’s not at least competitive in the Big 12, in which it’s picked ninth out of 10 teams.
Among Arkansas’ Q4 wins, only one is threatening to move up a quadrant and that’s Gardner-Webb at No. 162. It needs to crack the top 160 to be considered a Q3 win for the Razorbacks. Remaining non-conference foes Charlotte and Elon are firmly within the Q4 range, as well.
The most important non-conference game on Arkansas’ schedule from an NET perspective is Saturday’s neutral-site matchup against Oklahoma in Tulsa. The Sooners are No. 34 in the NET, so they are a Q1 opportunity for the Razorbacks.
West Virginia is a marquee opponent that will visit Bud Walton Arena for the Big 12/SEC Challenge next month, but it is barely a Q2 opportunity right now, sitting at No. 73 - just inside the top 75.
Outside of that, Arkansas’ biggest non-conference game is against Hofstra at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. It is considered a home game, so the Pride’s No. 93 NET ranking makes them a Q3 opponent. They’d need to climb into the top 75 to be a Q2.
The only SEC teams who have a worse non-conference strength of schedule worse than Arkansas at No. 283, according to the NET, are South Carolina (No. 287), Missouri (No. 297), Vanderbilt (No. 319) and Ole Miss (No. 325) - all of which were picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference.
Luckily for the Razorbacks, they will have plenty of opportunities to pick up quality wins in SEC play. Half of the conference is ranked in the latest AP Poll and Arkansas is slated to play the SEC’s top two teams in the NET - LSU (No. 2) and Tennessee (No. 11) - twice each.
Here is a look at where all of Arkansas’ opponents are in the initial NET rankings…
Arkansas' Non-Conference Opponents
Mercer: No. 209
Gardner-Webb: No. 162
Northern Iowa: No. 246
Kansas State: No. 69
Cincinnati: No. 45
Penn: No. 223
UCA: No. 336
Little Rock: No. 310
Charlotte: No. 201
Oklahoma: No. 34
Hofstra: No. 91
Elon: No. 343
West Virginia: No. 73
NET Rankings of SEC Teams
2. LSU*
11. Tennessee*
15. Alabama
16. Auburn
22. Florida
39. Kentucky
44. Arkansas
49. Mississippi State*
58. Texas A&M*
84. Vanderbilt
122. South Carolina
126. Ole Miss
208. Georgia
278. Missouri*
*Scheduled to play Arkansas twice in the regular season
