Eric Musselman dismisses idea Oklahoma matchup means more ahead of SEC move

Arkansas and Oklahoma are set to face off in a non-conference neutral site contest. However, by next January, such a matchup will come as a conference game.

But those sort of narratives couldn’t matter less to Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. Ahead of his Hogs’ game against No. 19 Oklahoma, he was asked if the aspect of the Sooners arriving in the SEC next season added any extra flavor this particular matchup. To that sort of question, Coach Musselman issued a confused and unimpassioned answer.

“Not really. I mean, not really, no. Whether we were playing, you know, Texas or — I mean, look, they’re a really well-coached team, you know. It’s great they’re coming into the league, proximity, all those things make a lot of sense. But I don’t — like, I’m not looking at Saturday’s game, not for one second, saying, ‘oh wow, they’re coming in the SEC next year, how are we gonna play this game?’ I mean, I don’t really care that they’re coming in it at all. It’s, you know…”

Clearly, Oklahoma’s addition to the SEC going forward means very little, or nothing, to Eric Musselman, but perhaps that’s because he is already used to playing the Sooners on an annual basis. Once the two schools do battle on the court this season, that will make it three straight years the’ve faced each other — all in Tulsa, OK. Then, of course starting next season, Oklahoma will be a member of the SEC, which means this annual matchups become a requirement.

While the Sooners haven’t been an NCAA Tournament team in either of the previous two seasons while the Razorbacks have, the games between the two have been high-powered. Arkansas got the better of OU last season winning 88-78, but it was the Sooners who destroyed the Hogs back in 2021-22, winning 88-68 to help send Arkansas into an early-season crater they would eventually bounce back from.

This year, it’s the Razorbacks who limp into this game a bit. Now, they do have an impressive win over Duke to point to, but losses to Memphis, UNC Greensboro and North Carolina have showcased their susceptibility.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is off to their best start of the Porter Moser era at 7-0 with wins over USC, Providence and Iowa. Sure, none of those clubs are top-25 caliber at the moment, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many other teams who are still undefeated and have wins over three power conference foes. All that to say: Oklahoma vs. Arkansas ought to be worth the price of admission — SEC preview or not.