Where Diamond Hogs are projected to go in NCAA Tournament
The NCAA baseball tournament is just around the corner, as Arkansas has three weekend series left before the postseason starts.
As it stands today, Arkansas sits at 30-16 overall with an 11-10 mark in SEC play. A pivotal series against Ole Miss begins this weekend, as both enter with that conference record.
Arkansas hitting a Top 16 seed and hosting a regional isn’t necessarily out of the question yet; a strong end to the season could push them into that category. But most projections do not have Arkansas as a host.
HawgBeat takes a look at three projections and what it could look like for the Razorbacks this postseason.
On3 — Lawrence Regional (2-seed)
On3’s projection has Arkansas traveling into the Sunflower State to Lawrence, where the Kansas Jayhawks would be positioned to host a regional. Along with Arkansas in that regional isn’t Saint Joseph’s and Wright State along with the Jayhawks.
“Arkansas is still a 2-seed, currently 30 in RPI with a 29-16 overall record including 11-10 in SEC play,” the projection reads. “The path to hosting isn’t done yet, but the Razorbacks need to make a big move quickly.”
This would be the second season in a row that Kansas and Arkansas have been put in the same regional, as the Jayhawks came to Fayetteville last year. They went 0-2 and didn’t face the Razorbacks.
Arkansas faced Wright State in a weekend series at Baum-Walker in 2023, and the Razorbacks swept them in three games. The Hogs are 6-0 all time against Wright State.
D1Baseball — Lincoln Regional (2-seed)
D1Baseball has Arkansas traveling as well, though a little farther than Lawrence and in the state of Nebraska, where the Cornhuskers are projected as the 12th-overall seed.
Along with the Huskers and Razorbacks in this regional is Kent State and Indiana State. Five years ago, Nebraska came to Arkansas in the tournament and had the Hogs on the ropes before Charlie Welch sent Baum-Walker into a frenzy in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Arkansas last faced Kent State in 2018 for a weekend series that the Hogs took with an 11-4 win in game three on March 11. Jordan McFarland, Casey Martin and Carson Shaddy each hit home runs in the seventh inning to break the game open. McFarland added a grand slam in the eighth inning in that game as well.
Baseball America — Corvallis Regional (2-seed)
Talk about some storylines here. Baseball America’s projection has Arkansas going to Corvallis, Oregon, to play at Oregon State’s ballpark.
One needs not to relive the 2018 College World Series to know there is some history between those two programs. They met again in 2023, when Hagen Smith struck out 17 batters — which tied a program record — across six innings and helped Arkansas to a 5-4 win over the Beavers in Arlington, Texas.
Along with Arkansas and Oregon State in this regional is UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State, so there’s definitely more travel involved for Arkansas than any other team in this regional.
The baseball team would also join the basketball team in traveling to Oregon for postseason play, as Arkansas basketball played in Portland for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament this year.
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