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Eric Musselman refers to must-win Arkansas games as 'Super Bowls'

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•02/03/23
Jaylin Williams, Arkansas Razorbacks forward
Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams gives coach Eric Musselman a high-five during a game on March 19, 2022. (Elsa / Getty Images)

One of several SEC teams on the bubble when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas has not been shy about branding certain games on the schedule. There have been some must-win Arkansas games for coach Eric Musselman.

In fact, they’re bigger than that, even, in the team’s lexicon.

Arkansas pulled out a massive win for the resume in the middle of the week by taking down a very good Texas A&M squad 81-70.

“We had to. That’s why we’ve been calling them Super Bowls,” Musselman said. “We put some pressure on our team the last 48 hours about the importance of this particular game and knowing that they’re coming in here 7-1 and knowing that when they walked in tonight, we had signs all over of different messages and the importance and the meaning of this particular game, because we know we have really difficult road games coming up.”

Arkansas was led in the contest by a pair of 19-point performances from Ricky Council IV and Davonte Davis.

Meanwhile, the Hogs also got a school-record-tying seven blocks from Makhel Mitchell, along with his 13 rebounds. Everyone pitched in for what Musselman had deemed a must-win Arkansas game.

With a series of tricky road games coming up — at Kentucky, at Texas A&M, at No. 4 Alabama and at No. 2 Tennessee among them — there wasn’t much room for leeway.

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Arkansas had to have that first Texas A&M game.

“We understand that,” Musselman said. “Every game on the road is hard. So yeah, it was huge. It was a big game, an important game for us.”

Arkansas among “Last Four Byes”

ESPN’s latest bracketology was released on Friday following the mid-week games, and Arkansas’ win over Texas A&M certainly had an impact.

The Razorbacks are in the field as one of the “Last Four Byes,” meaning they’re in the field without having to fight their way in via a play-in game

Lunardi has Arkansas as an 11-seed in the West Region.

The current listing has Arkansas headed to Denver for opening round games, while the regional round (the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight) would take place in Las Vegas.