Arkansas fans will have to stay up later than any other fan base to witness their Razorbacks punch their ticket to the Sweet 16, but head coach John Calipari warned this would happen.
The No. 4 seed Razorbacks on Thursday handled No. 13 Hawaii 97-78 in an afternoon game in Portland, Oregon, to get to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to play No. 12 High Point, which upset No. 5 Wisconsin. After the dust settled on the first day of the NCAA Tournament, tip times were announced for Saturday, with Arkansas-High Point being the very last game of the day at 8:45 p.m. CT on truTV.
Razorbacks get start time vs High Point
The Razorbacks have been dealt a tough hand to deal with this entire March Madness so far. After making it to Sunday's SEC Tournament final and beating Vanderbilt for the conference title, Arkansas was awarded only a 4 seed. The selection committee also sent the Razorbacks all the way to Portland, Oregon, with one less day's rest, despite there being hosting sites in nearby Oklahoma City and St. Louis. The Razorbacks would go back the West Coast for the Sweet 16 to San Jose, California.
After beating Hawaii on Thursday, Calipari, referring to the challenges the committee has given the Razorbacks, joked that Arkansas would be given a late tip next after proving it plays well in the afternoon. Sure enough.
"Here's what the committee didn't know, we play good in the afternoon, or they'd had us this evening," Calipari said Thursday during the broadcast's postgame interview. "So they didn't realize that we're a good afternoon team. I shouldn't say that, because then in two days, we'll be playing in the evening."
Arkansas likely wasn't going to get another afternoon tip anyway considering the Razorbacks are playing on the West Coast. However, it would make more sense to make them the first game of the day in Portland. Instead, Gonzaga, which has a fan base already in the Pacific Time Zone, will play Texas at 6:10 p.m. CT, which would be much easier for folks back in Arkansas to watch. High Point fans in North Carolina have to stay up even later on the East Coast.
Regardless, between 25 NCAA Tournament appearances, Calipari has already had to handle early and late tips all across the country, so he'll have the Razorbacks prepared anytime and anywhere.