This is it! We made it to the end.

Through 29 games, I have the Tigers at 16-13 overall and 5-9 in SEC play. I’m not feeling quite as good about that after Monday’s performance against Vermont, but I did have them losing that game so the predictions haven’t failed yet.

We’re down to the end of the regular-season schedule with matchups against Arkansas and Vanderbilt.

The Razorbacks are coming off an 18-15 season with a 6-10 record in SEC play.

Arkansas lost its first game in the SEC Tournament and got beat by Tulsa 80-62 in the first round of the WBIT.

The Razorbacks opened last season with six consecutive wins, including a win against Wisconsin, but a lost to Marquette ended that streak.

Arkansas then beat No. 15 Florida State 71-58, but lost to UCLA and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the next three games.

In conference play, Arkansas beat Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri twice (67-58 on Jan. 28 and 75-68 on Feb. 18) and Auburn.

With the two wins last year, Arkansas has won the past 12 matchups against the Tigers and holds a 23-12 lead in the all-time series. Missouri’s last win was Feb. 28, 2019, in Fayetteville, Ark., which was the final win in a seven-game Tiger win streak in the series.

Eight-year coach Mike Neighbors has a fully rebuilt team with junior guard Carly Keats (5-foot, 8-inches) the returner who started the most last year, playing in 29 games and starting 10. Keats averaged 6.1 points per game, every player ahead of her in scoring did not return to the team.

This year’s Razorback roster has five freshmen and three transfers to help fill in.

A familiar face for Tiger fans is now in Fayetteville as senior guard Izzy Higginbottom is now a Razorback after spending two years at Arkansas State.

As a freshman at Missouri in 2020-21, Higginbottom played 27 games off the bench, averaging 6.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Last year at Arkansas State, she was a 2023-24 All-Sun Belt First Team selection and was one of 10 semifinalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year after averaging 22.2 points per game and shooting 46.2 percent from the field. She scored 30 or more points seven times and passed 1,000 career points last year.

Along with Higginbottom, the Razorbacks added sophomore guard Kiki Smith (5-7) from Hutchinson Community College, the 2023-24 NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and first-team All-American and sophomore forward Vera Ojenuwa (6-4) from Barton Community College, who was an All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference First-Team selection.

All three transfers are taking big steps up in competition, but had massive success at lower levels.

Among the freshmen, guard Phoenix Stotijn (5-9) played on the Netherlands National Team, forward Pinja Paananen (6-2) played for the Finnish National Team and center Danika Galea (6-3) played for the Malta National Team.

That’s a lot of high-profile experience taking up the new roster spots this year.

It didn’t work out the way the Razorbacks were hoping in Game 1 as Arkansas lost to Fairfield 81-67 to open the season. Higginbottom led the team with 22 points, while Smith had 14.

Next up, the Razorbacks will play Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday.

They will play UCLA, Oral Roberts, Oklahoma State, Boston College and Texas Tech in non-conference play.

Arkansas will open conference play with a gauntlet of LSU, Texas and Tennessee among its first four games and will be coming off matchups against South Carolina and Oklahoma when it plays Missouri near the end of the season.

I think the Razorbacks might take some time to get flowing together, but they’ll be better this year than last year.

Arkansas wins this game.

We’ve made it to the end.

The Commodores are coming off a 23-10 season with a 9-7 record in conference play.

Vanderbilt won its first seven games last season, including a win against Iowa State, before losing to NC State in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

It then won its next six games to go into conference play at 13-1.

Vanderbilt kept it rolling in conference play with wins against Mississippi State, Florida and Kentucky, but lost to Missouri 65-63 on Jan. 14, starting a string of six losses in seven games.

The Commodores won five of their final six games in the regular season, including beating Missouri 68-61 on Feb. 29, before losing to Florida in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

Vanderbilt went into the NCAA Tournament fighting for a 12 seed in the First Four, where it beat Columbia, then lost to No. 5-seeded Baylor in the first round.

Missouri leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt 10-4.

The Commodores return four regular starters, including leading-scorer Iyana Moore. The 5-8 senior guard led the team with 14.2 points per game, while senior forward Sacha Washington (6-2) added 12.1 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game, while blocking a team-high 44 shots.

Vanderbilt also brought back junior guard/forward Jusstine Pissott (6-4) and graduate guard Jordyn Oliver (5-10), who both started more than 20 games last season.

The Commodores added graduate guard Leilani Kapinus (5-10) from Penn State and graduate forward Jane Nwaba (5-10) from Pepperdine in the portal, as well as freshmen Trinity Wilson (a 6-3 forward from Lakeville, Minnesota) and Mikayla Blakes (a 5-8 guard from Somerset, New Jersey).

Vanderbilt opened the season with a 102-50 win against Lipscomb and will play Austin Peay on Friday. It will play Arizona, California or Michigan State and Miami in non-conference play.

This will be the lone matchup between the programs as both get ready for the start of the SEC Tournament three days after this game.

Vanderbilt wins and Missouri goes into the tournament on a three-game losing streak.

Missouri loses both of these games and finishes the season on a three-game losing streak to end 16-15 overall and 5-11 in SEC play. Better than last year, but not by much. That’s a five-win improvement overall, mostly coming from an easier non-conference schedule, and a three-win better performance in SEC play.

Not a good season as the Tigers likely end the Robin Pingeton era with four NCAA Tournament appearances in 15 seasons, and none without Sophie Cunningham on roster.

Head on over to the Tiger Walk to discuss the schedule and so much more.