Arkansas rolls into Las Vegas riding high on the energy of ousting West Region top seed Kansas in the second round, but the Sweet 16 spot is nothing new to the Razorbacks.

For the second consecutive NCAA Tournament, Arkansas and Eric Musselman eliminated the top seed in the region to advance. Musselman piloted Arkansas to the Sweet 16 each of the previous two years, but the No. 8 seed finding a path back seemed implausible at the outset of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

"This has been as challenging and up and down season as I've ever been a part of," Musselman said. "For these guys to be rewarded for sticking with it and being able to go to Las Vegas and participate with only 16 teams still standing ... it's really hard to make this tournament. It really hard to win a game in this tournament. It's really hard to beat defending champions, No. 1 seed. We did it, proud of us. I keep telling our guys and our coaches -- because of all the circumstances that have happened, we're still evolving, we're still adding offensive plays, we're still adding defensive coverages. We're an evolving basketball team and I feel fortunate these guys buy into the prep."