Photo by Butch Dill AP

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. -- Expectations for Coach Eric Musselman's basketball team are considerably lower than they were the previous three seasons.

Musselman's Nevada's teams were the preseason pick to win the Mountain West Conference championship for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, and the Wolf Pack delivered titles both times.

Nevada also won the Mountain West title for the 2016-17 season after being picked in a preseason poll to finish second behind San Diego State.

After leading Nevada to three consecutive Mountain West titles, Musselman is getting ready for his first season as the University of Arkansas coach.

The Razorbacks were picked to finish 11th in the 14-team SEC poll voted on by media members.

Musselman said he doesn't take offense to the poll considering Arkansas tied for ninth in the SEC last season and lost 6-11 Daniel Gafford, a first-team all-conference player who entered the NBA Draft after his sophomore year and was a second-round pick -- 38th overall -- by the Chicago Bulls.

"I think it's expected," Musselman said Wednesday at SEC media days of this season's projection. "You look at where we finished last year, and then you take Daniel Gafford out. It probably makes a lot of sense."

While Musselman took the poll in stride, the players who accompanied him to media days -- sophomore guards Isaiah Joe and Desi Sills -- were not so philosophical.

"I definitely think people are overlooking us," Joe said. "But at this point, we have to prove ourselves now.

"I feel we're a lot better than being picked 11th, but apparently other people don't feel that way. So we've got to play with a chip on our shoulder."

Sills said he didn't expect the Razorbacks to be picked so low and ahead of only Texas A&M, Missouri and Vanderbilt.

"It just shocked me, because I know we should be ranked higher than 11th," Sills said. "I feel like we've got a lot of good pieces back, and then Coach Musselman went out and brought in some more good pieces."

Arkansas returns six of its top seven scorers -- Gafford averaged a team-high 16.9 points -- with Joe, Sills, junior guards Mason Jones and Jalen Harris, sophomore forward Reggie Chaney and senior forward Adrio Bailey.

Musselman then added senior graduate transfers Jimmy Whitt from SMU and Jeantal Cylla from North Carolina-Wilmington as eligible newcomers.

"Being ranked number 11, we know we're the underdogs now," Sills said. "So we want to get some revenge and show everybody that we're better than they think.

"We feel we should have been picked in the top five. But I'm not ticked off. We're going to use this as motivation."

ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes, a former walk-on guard for the Razorbacks who also coached the women's team for three seasons, said Arkansas could exceed expectations.

"After Kentucky and Florida, I think the league is so balanced and wide open," Dykes said. "You could finish 11th or you could finish third or fourth. It's going to come down to wins on the road, and winning close games.

"But if you have to choose between guards and bigs, you'll take guards in the college game. When you have good guards like Arkansas does, you have a chance."

Musselman led Nevada to a 110-34 record, including 28-7, 29-8 and 29-5 the previous three seasons.

Coming off an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in 2017, the Wolf Pack opened last season ranked No. 7 in The Associated Press preseason poll.

"The last three years we've had such a big target on us at Nevada," Musselman said. "It can be hard to live up to high expectations."

And now?

"It's obviously a different feeling," Musselman said. "But at the end of the day, as a coach, all you're trying to do is get better every day. Trying to get your team to compete at a high level every day.

"I don't think your approach as a coach changes one bit whether you're a top 10 team in the country or you're picked 11th in the preseason SEC poll."

Musselman said he mentioned being picked 11th to his team when the poll was released earlier this week, but that it's not something for the Razorbacks to dwell on.

"It is what it is," Musselman said. "Somebody's going to get picked whatever. But it's kind of meaningless, too.

"Nobody's been behind the curtain the last six months as teams have gone from offseason mode to now getting ready to play games. So I don't think it's really that important."

The Razorbacks have finished higher than what they were picked in the SEC preseason media poll the last six years.

"Arkansas has always been underrated," Joe said. "We always place better than what's expected. So why stop now?"

Sports on 10/17/2019