Big Ten Travel Killing Musselman, Crushing Hopes of Showdown with Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman took off for the West Coast, Razorbacks fans didn’t put a whole lot of thought into it.

Unlike Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation, which stalks current Hogs coach John Calipari like a lovestruck middle schooler at all times, the Arkansas faithful understood. Musselman’s mother is there and his heart was always clearly tucked away along the beaches and cool air of Southern California, so no one begrudged him for getting closer to be more readily available when needed should an emergency arise.

But now the reality that comes with such a move has settled in. Gone are the short regional jaunts that would have been availble to him had he stuck around in the SEC.

Instead of hops and skips to Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss and Mississippi State taking up large chunks of the schedule, he’s feeling the weight of the cross country ask the Big Ten makes of its teams and the consequences that follow.

The Trojans appeared poised for a made-for-TV push to face off against Arkansas in a play-in game for the right to be considered the 11 seed in the Midwest. Instead, travel has railroaded Musselman’s first-year efforts, leaving his program gasping for enough juice to possibly squeeze out an NIT appearance.

USC is 1-5 this year when asked to make the week-long treks across the Mississippi River. His most recent excursion, an NBA style romp through far-flung Maryland and New Jersey, pushed the typically fiery coach to a point of broken exhaustion.

“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,” Musselman said, hinting at his background as a former NBA coach. “We’re supposed to stop in Kansas City or Tulsa. We’re gonna get back roughly at 3 a.m., then we’re gonna bus, and then they’re gonna go to class at eight. You’re gonna get, you’re not gonna be in your bed to try to attempt to sleep until 4 a.m. and then you get, then you have a class in four hours, which means you got to get up, you got a shower, you got to get to class.”

It’s rough on his players who will be dragging the next few days before being asked to play Ohio State, a current NCAA Tournament lock. The difference will be the Buckeyes should be the fresher of the two teams despite it being a home game for the Trojans.

It’s a problem Musselman noted as soon as he received the schedule.

“Should a West Coast team be playing the game at six o’clock at night?” Musselman asked. “Oh, by the way Ohio State’s in Los Angeles and has been there for two days, and they played several hours before us, but yet, we’re the team that has to travel cross country, and then our body clocks have to readjust. So is that why we lost tonight? No, I’m more worried about the travel effect in our game at Ohio State than I am this game because when the schedule came out, the game that I thought we would be most affected by is Ohio State.”

So, with cross country trips having eaten up a large portion of his cushion, Musselman’s lone shot to face off against the Razorbacks in the NCAA Tournament (provided the Hogs make it), is to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament and hope for a miracle run.

Right now the Trojans are clinging to the final spot just above Northwestern. Should the Wildcats manage a tie, even that flicker of hope will fade.

See, the Wildcats were one of the trans-Mississippi River losses, giving them the head-to-head edge in the event of a tie. On the positive side for Musselman, three of his last four games are in Los Angeles and even the road game is on the West Coast in Oregon.

With a NET ranking in the 70s, there doesn’t appear to be much the Trojans can do outside of winning the Big Ten Tournament to get to Musselman’s favorite proving ground, the NCAA Tournament, but if the Razorbacks bomb out the rest of the way, which is quite possible given the schedule, he could find himself back in Arkansas for the first round of the NIT.

Considering such a trip wouldn’t require traipsing across the Mississippi River and given how comfortable he is in Northwest Arkansas and Bud Walton Arena, it would certainly be a spectacle to behold. That is, of course, if Calipari didn’t convince someone to let him play it in Memphis in his old stomping grounds.

It’d be in honor of the fans in East Arkansas, clearly. It’d have nothing to do with the mental games flying over the Mississippi one last time would play with the former head Hog and his team.

Then again, if Calipari’s team falls apart that much, the fans in eastern Arkansas might be the only ones willing to show up, even if Musselman gets to be the guest of honor.