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Arkansas made their statement to the committee: we stink

Arkansas v Missouri

COLUMBIA, MO - MARCH 05: Phil Pressey #1 of the Missouri Tigers is fouled by Coty Clarke of the Arkansas Razorbacks during the game at Mizzou Arena on March 5, 2013 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Arkansas isn’t just bad on the road this season.

They’re awful.

They entered Tuesday night’s game at Missouri 1-7 in the SEC in road games. Those seven losses came by an average of more than 13 points. They lost by 21 at South Carolina. They lost by 18 at Vanderbilt. They scored a combined 103 points in those two games. The one road win the Razorbacks do have? At Auburn.

Missouri, on the other hand, is quite similar to Arkansas. While they struggle on the road, the Tigers are awesome at home, which is why is should come as no surprise to you that Missouri smacked the Razorbacks around during their visit to Columbia. What is mildly surprising, however, is that Arkansas didn’t even put up a fight. They were lost 93-63. They were down 48-22 at halftime. It was an embarrassment -- or a statement, depending on which side your loyalties lie -- especially when you consider the fact that Mike Anderson’s tenure at Missouri came to an abrupt end two years ago.

Anderson was booed lustily during the game. I have a feeling that Phil Pressey and Laurence Bowers took just that much more enjoyment out of Tuesday’s mollywhopping.

Here’s the thing that just doesn’t make sense: Arkansas was playing for their tournament lives. Thanks to the win over Florida last month and the win over Kentucky last weekend, the ugly status of fellow bubble teams meant that Arkansas still had a chance to play their way into the dance. Winning on the road against the second-best team in the SEC would have been a great way to make a statement to the tournament selection committee.

They want teams to separate themselves, and given the fact that Tennessee losing to Georgia and Ole Miss losing to South Carolina and Mississippi State in the span of a week hasn’t come close to eliminating them from the bubble conversation, it shouldn’t really be that difficult to create that separation. Boise State did it when they beat Colorado State. Creighton did it by beating Wichita State. Cal did it by beating everyone over the last six weeks.

And Arkansas?

They did it by losing by 30 points at Missouri.

That’s the easiest way to get yourself onto the wrong side of the bubble.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.