Arkansas Basketball Outlook 2014-2015

I’ll be honest. I’m not an Arkansas Razorbacks fan. Though I love the state, and have spent my entire life living in Arkansas I have never followed nor been a fan of the program. I’ve definitely made not so flattering remarks about the Razorbacks that some people didn’t take too kindly too. But I’m being honest and that’s all I can do! Despite all that, I will do my best to give my unbiased thoughts on the Razorbacks men’s basketball team as conference play begins.

I want to focus on a couple of different things here. First, the talent on the roster. I think we can all agree that Arkansas has an NBA 1^st round talent in Bobby Portis. I don’t love that he shoots so many jump shots or that he’s not always aggressive on the boards but he can change games with his versatility and single handedly keep the Hogs in games that they otherwise would lose. I like the calmness that Durham has brought to the point guard position. Growing up in Northeast Arkansas, I remember watching Ky Madden and he was THAT DEAL! Not sure why but it seems like he never brought that confidence with him to college. He’s made mistakes this year that a senior just cannot make! I love the toughness that Watkins has brought to the team this year, he competes on both ends as hard as any player on the team. You probably expect me to say something about Qualls right? Sorry, I just don’t love his game. It’s not very efficient, but I won’t lie, it’s been effective. He just plays a little too wild and out of control for me, but hey he makes Sportscenter!!

Another thing I want to look at is the competition in the SEC and how many teams get into the dance. I’ll go on a limb and say Kentucky gets in. But unlike a lot of the national media, I don’t see them going into the tournament unbeaten. It’s a long year and conference play is tough. They have road games @Alabama, @LSU, and @Florida that could trip them up. It’s tough to judge SEC play so early in the year but I think Arkansas can be a top 4 team in the league. I don’t have a ton of confidence in that prediction though. I think the gap between teams 2-7 in the league is slim based off of what I’ve seen so far. If Florida gets healthy I think they could make a run and get to that 2 spot. Billy Donovan is just that good of a coach.

Finals thoughts..As much as I knock Arkansas basketball, I really do want Mike Anderson to do well. He just signed an extension this week. Now I’m not sure it’s deserved or not, or if it’s one of those you’re signed until 2018 but we can fire you tomorrow if we want type of extensions, but we’ll see how it plays out. As far as Arkansas getting back to the tournament for the first time in several years, I think they have a great shot at getting in. After looking at the schedule I predict them to go 11-7 in conference, and finish the year at 23-9. They finish the year @Kentucky, @South Carolina, and home v.s. LSU. If they can avoid going 0-3 in that stretch I can see them being anywhere from an 7-10 seed in the NCAA’s. Now for once I finally give the Hogs a good prediction, hope they don’t let me down!

 -Derrick

IS THE SEC...OVERRATED??

In the wake of the New Year’s 6 bowl games we saw the SEC go 5-5 with the elite teams in the conference suffering from losses. This has started some rumblings around the College Football world that the SEC might be overrated.  While it is easy to jump to this conclusion, I assure you that it absolutely is NOT.

What makes the SEC so great isn’t the gap at the top, but the depth of the conference as a whole.  We see it every year, the top 2 teams of just about any power conference can compete and even beat the top teams in the SEC. But in every other conference (except recently the Pac-12), after those first 2 or 3 top teams, there is a DRASTIC drop in talent level. Again, it’s not the 1, 2, 3 of the SEC that makes it an elite conference; it’s the 4-8 teams that separate them from the rest.  

We can just look at this bowl season. Alabama and Miss. St. are probably considered to be the cream of the crop this year in the SEC, followed by Ole Miss and Auburn. All of these teams lost. However, the middle of the pack teams (South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Georgia etc.) had very strong showings. It is easier for elite teams to look consistent and avoid slip-ups when their conference has 8-9 teams that are completely outmatched when they line up to play week in and week out than it is for the elite teams in the SEC to play their “mediocre” teams who are VERY CAPABLE of beating anyone in the country.  I would bet that coaches around the country would be more likely to take 7-6 Arkansas a little more seriously than they would a 7-6 Penn State or even an 8-5 Washington team.

Also, take this into consideration…

·         The Big 10 had 6 teams with 8 wins or more, the SEC and the Pac-12 both had 8 teams.

·         The Big 10 had 5 teams with a losing record, the Pac-12 had 4…the SEC had 2.

So what makes the SEC the best conference in the country? Are their top teams any better than any other conference’s top teams? No. Say it with me…

                                                                                D-E-P-T-H

-Jalynn

 

“We beat ourselves up every week” “We wanted to play in the bigger bowl games”  “ The refs just wanted to see the SEC finally lose” “SEC players are two busy thinking about the NFL”

Those are just a few of the #SECEXCUSES I’ve been hearing, seeing, and listening to the last 48 hours as the “unbeatable” SEC became very..beatable. LSU lost to an unimpressive Notre Dame team, Auburn fell short, the state of Mississippi collapsed, and the Tide didn’t appear to roll. Now I will give credit to the SEC East. They have actually looked alright in their bowl games, but I want to focus on the “vaunted”  SEC West. I actually heard people say this was the best division in the history of college football. WHAT A JOKE. Could it be that this was the most even, average division this year? What great teams are in the SEC? You can make an argument that the SEC has the 5^th best team in the nation this year at best. I would personally have Oregon, Ohio State, TCU, and Florida State (assuming they don’t have 50 fumbles) ahead of Alabama. Heck, Michigan State has 2 losses this year, both to the two teams playing for the title. Maybe that pushes the SEC to number 6. SEC fans LOVE to say “ O, well we beat each other up every week” Can the other conferences not use that same argument or is it reserved for the SEC??

To address Jalynn’s points though…

He says the ELITE SEC teams had losses. I ask, who are those ELITE teams? I see some solid teams, an entertaining team, and maybe 1 good one. But no, I see no ELITE teams in the SEC. Mississippi State? Really? He says the 4-8 teams are “what makes the conference”.  Makes them into what? Ole Miss who lost 4 of their last 6 games, and 6 regular season win South Carolina is who you’re banking on? And that’s not all!! He had the AUDACITY to mention TWO win Arkansas!! So 2 conference wins is what it takes to be “middle of the pack” in the vaunted SEC? If only other conferences were awarded that luxury! Let’s face it. The best quarterbacks are in the PAC 12, the best running backs are in the BIG 10, and the best receivers are in the BIG 12. Now the SEC still has the big boys up front but that’s neutralized when you play teams who speed up the game and tires those guys out.

Sometime we don’t get these great inter-conference matchups until the end of the year so these bowls may be all we have to judge. And if the big bad SEC doesn’t show up, then that’s on them! They can take these L’s as well as a backseat to these leagues that want to be great! With all that said, the SEC isn’t terrible and they are probably still one of the top 2 conferences (PAC 12) in the land. But they’ve done ONE thing very well…made it debatable.

-Derrick