As if this past weekend’s drubbing at the hands of LSU wasn’t enough, paint usually maroon Arkansas blue as the eighth-seeded Razorbacks, who squeaked into the postseason, draw the same No. 1 seeded Tigers in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Wednesday.

The fourth meeting in less than a week between the &uot;boot&uot; states serves as the nightcap of a quartet of games at the Hoover Met Wednesday, highlighted by a Hatfield-McCoy affair between No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 5 Ole Miss scheduled for 5 p.m.

&uot;There’s probably no advantage to playing LSU four times in a row, especially with their lineup that they put up on the field,&uot; said first-year Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn. &uot;Probably the only advantage is that you’ve already seen them, and maybe they’re sick of seeing you.&uot;

Last Friday night LSU (37-18-1) wasted no time in sustaining the drama on the SEC’s final weekend by banging out 15 hits en route to an 11-3 victory over the Hogs (34-18) and its 13th league title &045; its first since 1997.

The two clubs split the pair over the weekend to give LSU 20 conference wins, marking the 11th straight year at least one team has stood atop the 20-win plateau in league play.

&uot;Arkansas is very talented. They have a couple of big guys right in the middle,&uot; LSU head coach Smoke Laval said. &uot;And they’re come right at you. Playing him again or another two times, it really doesn’t matter. They’re as good as anyone in this tournament.&uot;

Possibly more credit than the Hogs deserve, especially with Arkansas not only trying to unseat this year’s Tigers, but the legacy of five NCAA championships since 1991.

Four out of the five years the Tigers have returned from Omaha, Neb. &045; home of the College World Series &045; with a hefty piece of hardware they had been declared outright conference champions in the same seasons.

LSU’s most recent national title in 2000 saw it claim a Western Division crown and the SEC Tournament’s top prize, but the Tigers watched South Carolina steamroll to the regular season championship with a 25-5 posting.

The Gamecocks, who face No. 7 Alabama in the 1 p.m. tilt Wednesday, come into this year’s tourney as the No. 2 seed after winning the Eastern Division by five games.

Sixth-seeded Vanderbilt, who finished below .500 in second at 14-16 in the SEC, represents the only other Eastern team when it squares off against No. 3 Auburn in the early game at 10 a.m.

&uot;We’re very excited to go back to Hoover, and I think it’s one of the best tournaments in the country,&uot; said head coach Ray Tanner, whose South Carolina team is hot at 9-1 over its last 10 games. &uot;Early in the season, I wasn’t sure if we were going to be a participant in the tournament. But we played really well down the stretch.&uot;

The Gamecocks lost last year’s final to Alabama 6-2, but were the only team from the SEC to advance to Omaha, losing to Texas in the national championship game 12-6.

Ole Miss and the Bulldogs oil the gloves for the first time in tournament play since 1999, when State eliminated Ole Miss in Game No. 9 with a 2-0 victory.

&uot;Ole Miss is a quality team. We’re looking forward to teeing it up against the Rebels,&uot; Bulldog head coach Ron Polk said. &uot;We’re kind of where we are today with a relatively young club.&uot;

LSU is the lone SEC team to have locked up an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament field by virtue of its conference championship, meaning blood, sweat and tears will cover the field as teams attempt to extend their seasons.

Recent regional projections by www.sebaseball.com have LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn all hosting first-round regionals. with only the Tigers in the running to play host to their second-ever Super Regional.

&uot;I think LSU is certainly a lock. I don’t know what the situation is with the other five teams,&uot; Polk said. &uot;I don’t think that the NCAA will give us five sites, but we certainly have five teams that are deserving of hosting.&uot;