Arkansas basketball left out of AP Top 25

The Arkansas Razorbacks (9-2 0-0 SEC) remained unranked in the latest AP College Basketball Top 25 released Monday.

Despite a primetime win over then-No. 14 Michigan last Tuesday and an 82-57 rout of Central Arkansas on Saturday, the Hogs still don’t have a number by their name. They weren’t far off, as they received the second-most votes (151) of unranked teams, behind Mississippi State.

This week, Arkansas has just one matchup, a Saturday afternoon tilt against North Carolina A&T.

The Southeastern Conference is strong from top to bottom this year, and this week’s AP Poll shows that. Five of the top seven (No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Florida) teams belong to the SEC.

All told, there are eight SEC teams in the AP Poll. No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 17 Ole Miss are also listed.

According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, the Razorbacks rank 42nd overall (11.9 BPI, 11th in SEC) with a 5.1 offensive and 6.8 defensive rating. Arkansas is projected to finish with an 18.5-12.5 (7.5-10.5 SEC) overall record and it has a 0.1% chance to win the SEC.

After the NET rankings debut had Arkansas ranked No. 52 initially, the Razorbacks have bounced around several spots. After the win over Michigan, the Hogs moved to No. 40, but as of Monday sit at No. 47. They are 1-2 in Quad 1 games, 0-0 in Quad 2, 3-0 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4.

Here is the full AP Top 25 from Monday: