Arkansas’s Fayetteville — Razorbacks supporters didn’t give it much thought when former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman left for the West Coast.
The Arkansas fans understood, in contrast to Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation, which constantly chases current Hogs coach John Calipari like a middle school romance. No one resented Musselman’s decision to move closer in order to be more accessible in case of an emergency because his mother is there and his heart was always evidently hidden away amid the beaches and calm air of Southern California.
However, the reality of such a shift has finally sunk in. The brief regional trips that he would have had if he had stayed in the SEC are no longer available.
He’s feeling the weight of the cross-country ask the Big Ten makes of its teams and the ensuing repercussions, rather than hopping and skipping to Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State, which take up significant portions of the schedule.
In a play-in game against Arkansas, the Trojans looked ready for a made-for-TV challenge to earn the opportunity to be ranked as the 11th seed in the Midwest. Rather, Musselman’s first-year efforts have been railroaded by travel, leaving his program struggling to find enough wiggle room to potentially make an NIT showing.
When asked to journey across the Mississippi River for a week, USC is 1-5 this year. He was driven to the brink of fatigue by his most recent adventure, which was an NBA-style romp through distant Maryland and New Jersey.
Musselman said, “Unless you’re doing it or have done it in the past, which no one has done it unless you’ve been in the NBA, and when you travel three time zones, and you’re out here for six days, and we’re gonna get back right now,” implying that he had previously been an NBA coach. “We’re planning to make a stop in Tulsa or Kansas City. We will return about three in the morning, take a bus, and they will leave for class at eight. You will no longer be in bed trying to sleep till four in the morning. After that, you will have to wake up, take a shower, and go to class because you have a class in four hours.”
His teammates will have to endure the next several days before they are expected to play Ohio State, a current NCAA Tournament lock, which is difficult for them. Even though the Trojans are playing at home, the Buckeyes should be the more experienced of the two teams.
Musselman saw the issue as soon as he got the itinerary.
“Should a West Coast team be playing the game at six o’clock at night?” Musselman inquired. We’re the team that has to go cross-country, and then our body clocks have to adapt. By the way, Ohio State is in Los Angeles and has been there for two days. They played many hours before us. Is that why we didn’t win tonight? No, when the schedule was released, I believed that Ohio State would have the biggest impact on us, so I’m more concerned about the travel effect there than I am about this game.”
Given that cross-country travel has consumed a significant amount of his cushion, Musselman’s only chance to play the Razorbacks in the NCAA Tournament—assuming the Hogs advance—is to earn a spot in the Big Ten Tournament and hope for a miraculous comeback.
The Trojans are currently hovering just above Northwestern for the final position. Even that glimmer of optimism will vanish if the Wildcats are able to tie the game.
You see, the Wildcats had the head-to-head advantage in the case of a tie because they were among the teams that lost over the Mississippi River. The fact that three of Musselman’s last four games have taken place in Los Angeles, and even the away game is in Oregon on the West Coast, is a plus.
There doesn’t seem to be much the Trojans can do, aside from winning the Big Ten Tournament, to advance to Musselman’s preferred testing ground, the NCAA Tournament, with a NET ranking in the 70s. However, if the Razorbacks falter the rest of the way, which is quite possible given the schedule, he might end up back in Arkansas for the NIT first round.
It would undoubtedly be a sight to witness, especially because such a journey wouldn’t need walking over the Mississippi River and he is so at ease in Northwest Arkansas and Bud Walton Arena. Naturally, that is, provided Calipari didn’t persuade someone to allow him to perform in Memphis, his former haunt.
Obviously, it would be in respect of the fans in East Arkansas. It wouldn’t be related to the mental games that the former head Hog and his crew will play when flying over the Mississippi one last time.
Even if Musselman is invited as the guest of honor, the supporters in eastern Arkansas may be the only ones who want to attend if Calipari’s team disintegrates that badly.
