Kenny Smith fires back at death of Cinderella narrative, uses Arkansas as proof

Cinderella has been a popular term in college basketball this week. Not because of a ton of upsets in the NCAA Tournaments, though. This year’s March Madness has been full of chalk as just one double-digit seed is alive in the Sweet Sixteen. Arkansas is facing Texas Tech in the West Region, looking for a third Elite Eight in five years.

Usually, a Cinderella team is one coming from a mid-major conference that surprised folks with a run to the second weekend. None of those are present this season with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith predicting the “death of college basketball.”

Kenny Smith pushed back on the idea on Thursday, calling Arkansas this year’s Cinderella. Not often used to describe a team in a league such as the SEC, Smith claims being a double-digit seed is enough to earn the distinction.

“We talk about, there’s no Cinderella,” Smith said during halftime of Arizona–Duke. “Well, Arkansas is a double-digit seed. Which, typically, in their history of basketball, you would not think of them as a Cinderella. But they are in the Cinderella position, typically, for other schools. So, this is Cinderella. Arkansas is Cinderella this year.”

Arkansas finished the regular season 19-12 and 8-10 in SEC play. A win in the SEC Tournament was enough to secure an at-large NCAA Tournament bid before losing to Ole Miss in Nashville. Results have been more favorable since facing non-SEC teams, beating Kansas and St. John’s.

Multiple high-major double-digit seeds have made runs in the NCAA Tournament. Just last season, NC State was able to surprise folks by making the Final Four. UCLA did the same in 2021. Neither advanced to the national championship.

Loyola-Chicago in 2018 was the last mid-major with a double-digit seed attached to its name to make college basketball’s premier destination. A historic run under Porter Moser, the Ramblers are a team people will remember for a long time.

Arkansas is still a couple of wins away from matching those types of performances. Even so, Smith feels comfortable enough labeling them a Cinderella story because of where the Selection Committee placed them on Selection Sunday.

Who knows, a bunch of one and two-seeds might wind up taking the space in San Antonio. With how this year has gone, it would not be too big of a surprise to anyone. John Calipari hopes Arkansas’ supposed Cinderella story is not quite yet over.