Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

This is it for Arkansas and Coach John Pelphrey.

They’re down to their last chance at salvaging the season, making the NCAA Tournament and providing tangible proof of improvement. And to do so the Razorbacks (18-12, 7-9) will need to win four games over the next four days in Atlanta at the SEC Tournament.

Improbable? Yes. But not impossible.

Arkansas accomplished the feat in 1999-2000 under Nolan Richardson. Georgia eliminated the Razorbacks in 2007-08 (Pelphrey’s first season) to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Pulling it off will be difficult, Pelphrey acknowledged. It all starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. with the Razorbacks’ game against Tennessee (18-13, 8-8).

“We can’t win four until we win one, but we’ll start with the first one,” said Pelphrey, who could be coaching for his job. “That’s the understanding. The NCAA Tournament is on the line and we want to be a part of that.”

Arkansas is trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Pelphrey took over in 2007-08. He guided the Razorbacks to the second round of the tournament that season. They'll need to win the SEC and get an automatic bid to return to the "Big Dance."

Tonight’s game against the Volunteers is winnable. Arkansas beat Tennessee in Fayetteville on Jan. 8. And despite two losses last week to close the regular season Pelphrey and the Razorbacks felt like they played good basketball. Take away some poorly timed turnovers at Ole Miss and against Mississippi State, Pelphrey said, and the outcomes are different.

Putting it all together will be key tonight against the Volunteers, who also seem to be playing for their NCAA Tournament life. Tennessee is among the teams competing in what the Associated Press called the “Bubble Bowl.”

Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt seem to be the only teams assured of making the NCAA Tournament. Beyond that, the AP says, it’s “guesswork.”

Win the SEC Tournament, secure the automatic bid and Arkansas is in. Nobody will be able to question the Razorbacks' spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Rotnei Clarke, selected earlier this week to the all-SEC second team, said the team is looking forward to the challenge. It’s most likely a true one-and-done scenario for the Razorbacks: Win and advance. Lose in the first round as the Razorbacks have done the last two seasons and the season is likely over.

“We know anything's possible coming into this tournament,” Clarke said. “Even if they hadn't done it before that we would probably still think we had a good chance. It's going to be tough, four games in four days is really tough. But it's possible and we have seen people do it before.”