Travel plans pending as Hogs wait for word

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is faced with very few certainties concerning today’s announcement of the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas knows it is in the tournament, knows it won’t be hosting a regional, and knows it won’t be sent to a regional in Tempe, Ariz., where the Razorbacks played last season. Beyond that, Arkansas can expect about anything when the field for the NCAA Tournament is announced at 11 a.m. today on ESPNU.

Arkansas (39-19) built a good enough resume to be included in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th consecutive season, but a poor second half, including an 0-2 showing in the SEC Tournament, means the Razorbacks will play on the road again in this year’s tournament. Arkansas wasn’t among the 16 regional

tournament sites announced Sunday by the NCAA.

Three SEC teams — South Carolina, LSU, and Florida — were announced as regional hosts while the Atlantic Coast Conference led the way with five teams receiving bids. Arkansas went 2-2 while playing in a regional last season at Arizona State, which is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament because of penalties imposed last season under former coach Pat Murphy.

Regional tournaments will be held Friday through Monday with four teams competing in a double-elimination format at each site.

There are three sites in Texas if the NCAA decides to send the Razorbacks to play in a regional at Texas A&M, Rice, or Baylor. But Arkansas has played in regional tournaments at Palo Alto, Calif., Waterbury, Conn., Huntsville, Ala., and Tallahassee, Fla., so most of the 16 sites are at least a possible landing spot for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas hopes to revive a season that began with so much promise after the Razorbacks started 22-3.

“It’s frustrating but, wherever we go, we’ll try to get it done there,” Arkansas pitcher DJ Baxendale said.

Arkansas will need more offense after the Razorbacks managed only one run in 18 innings at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. Arkansas had seven hits in a 9-1 defeat to Mississippi State then six hits in a 2-0 defeat to Ole Miss that eliminated the Razorbacks from the SEC Tournament.

“Hopefully, these guys will come back with some fire,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “They talked all year that they’re a team that can get through a regional, so we’ll find out.”