Top 10 matters

Arkansas and Texas A&M are tied for 10th in the SEC standings at 6-10 with two games left in the regular season.

Why should anyone care about that?

Because whichever team finishes 11th has to open the SEC Tournament on Wednesday, March 13 — when the bottom four teams play two games — while the 10th-place team gets a bye to Thursday’s second round.

“It’s a real big deal,” Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy said of avoiding the Wednesday games. “It just doesn’t seem like you’re in the tournament if you’re playing on that first day because there’s only four teams playing.

“Then obviously you’ve got to win [another game] if you’re going to have any chance to go to postseason play. That’s been our motivation … all the way through to the end of the season, is playing our best basketball and seeing if we can move up.

“I think it’s going to be a difficult task, because Arkansas also is playing well.”

Arkansas and Texas A&M split their games this season — with each winning on the road — but if they finish tied after the games this week, the Razorbacks would have the tiebreaker because they beat LSU, which is assured of finishing no lower than third in the SEC’s final standings. The highestranked team the Aggies have beaten is Alabama, which is ninth in the standings. The Aggies play this week against South Carolina and Mississippi State, which are part of a five-way tie for fourth.

“It’s a new season when you talk about going to the [SEC] Tournament,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “Hopefully, our team is playing some of its best basketball and hopefully we’re built for a tournament.

“Whether it be on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, we just want to play. Because that time it’s a onegame season.

“Right now we’re playing for the seeding part of it, to see where we’re going to be. Vanderbilt is who’s next up, and that’s what we’re thinking about right now.”

After playing at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night, the Razorbacks finish the regular season at home against Alabama on Saturday.

Arkansas and Texas A&M have a chance to finish at 8-10 with Alabama if the Razorbacks and Aggies win both of their games this week and the Crimson Tide — who play Auburn at home tonight — go 0-2.

If there is a three-way tie for eighth, Arkansas and Texas A&M would be the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds by virtue of being a combined 3-0 against Alabama. The Razorbacks and Aggies would meet in the SEC Tournament in Thursday’s second round.

Kennedy