BURN THE HORSE
- North Texas hosts Middle Tennessee
- Louisiana-Lafayette hosts Denver
So, as UALR fans, who should we root for? It depends on what your goals for the season are and how many of UALR’s seven remaining games you think the Trojans can win.
UALR trails Middle Tennessee by two losses in the overall standings going into tonight’s game. A Middle Tennessee loss in any of its next three games could set up a first place showdown with UALR on national television in a few weeks. But that only is a reality if UALR beats ULM at home and ULL on the road before then. Finishing first overall is the only way to guarantee a team a postseason berth (NIT). But there is something to winning the division and grabbing the No. 2 seed at the Sun Belt Tournament. Pinning a home loss on North Texas would be far more important to UALR at this point. So, root for Middle Tennessee tonight and you can hope for them to get beat further down the line.
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Denver is a can’t win/can’t lose matchup for UALR. Both ULL and Denver are 6-3 in conference so one will pick up a half game on UALR and one will lose a half game to UALR. UALR already has a loss to ULL and has to go to Lafayette next week. ULL could earn the tiebreaker with the Trojans with a victory in that game. Therefore, root for Denver tonight. You can then turn on the Pioneers on Saturday when they host Middle.
Of course, two Middle losses on the North Texas-Denver trip and a UALR victory on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe would put UALR on the top line of the standings by the weekend.
Confused? Just root for UALR victories and everything will work itself out.
