Thanks to Ole Miss, Hogs now third seed in SEC Tournament

After winning six of its last seven games to end the regular season, Arkansas will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Going into Saturday night’s game in Oxford, Miss., the Hogs were sitting at No. 4. But the Rebels shocked the Gamecocks, 75-70, lifting Arkansas to the No. 3 spot.

The advantage is the Hogs will not have to face No. 1 seed Kentucky until the championship game. Florida is the No. 2 seed for the tournament this week.

The Razorbacks will play their SEC Tournament opener on Friday, March 10 at approximately 8:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 6 seed Ole Miss versus No. 11 seed Auburn or No. 14 seed Missouri.

Arkansas is the No. 3 seed for the fifth time since joining the SEC, having advanced to the championship game two of the previous four times at the No. 3 spot. The Razorbacks hold an 8-3 overall record in the tournament as the No. 3 seed, including winning their only SEC Tournament Championship in 2000. Having a double bye in the tournament puts Arkansas in the quarterfinals, where it has a 12-2 all-time record.

Arkansas is making its 26th SEC Tournament appearance where it has an all-time record of 22-24, including a berth in the championship game two years ago.

After being voted to finish fifth in the league by the media, Arkansas finished higher than it was picked for the fourth straight season, ending the year with an 18-point rout of Georgia to post a 23-8 overall regular season record and a 12-6 mark in league play.

The Razorbacks have posted 23 regular season wins and 12 SEC victories for the second time in the last 22 years, joining the 2014-15 NCAA Tournament team as the only squads to accomplish the feat.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications contributed to this report.