FAYETTEVILLE -- The chance to play a big name, ranked opponent is always a plus for any college basketball team. But as Arkansas learned last weekend, sometimes you have to take care of the business directly in front of you first.

Playing alongside No. 2 North Carolina in the Junkanoo Jam, Arkansas hoped to get a shot at the Tar Heels. Instead, the Razorbacks missed out on the opportunity when a first-round loss against Oregon State resulted in a consolation game against Pacific.

Today, Arkansas hopes to avoid a similar result when it faces Mississippi Valley State at 4 p.m. in the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic. A win against the Delta Devilettes would most likely set up a showdown with Big 12 Conference power and tournament host Kansas State.

But as Razorbacks coach Tom Collen pointed out to his team, first things first.

"We talked about that (Thursday)," Collen said. "We talked about the fact that, OK, we're going to find out what we learned. We wanted North Carolina but we didn't get them because we overlooked the first game. Now we're not going to overlook Mississippi Valley State.

"Do we want Kansas State? Yes we do, but we're not going to overlook Mississippi Valley State. We've got to take care of business one game at a time. So we addressed that right off the bat in practice (Thursday)."

Arkansas (6-1) is coming off its first true road win of the season after pulling out a 76-69 victory at Memphis on Wednesday. But when preparing for Mississippi Valley State (1-4) and the Wildcat Classic, the Razorbacks remember what happened in their only loss as evidence of how no foe should be overlooked.

"We've got take one game at a time," Arkansas freshman Ceira Ricketts said. "You've always got to focus on your first game so you can make it through to get to that person who you really want to play."