FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Coming into the basketball season, Arkansas fans thought they were about to experience something unprecedented.
Turns out, unless you’re in middle school, you’ve already been on this particular roller coaster.
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson pulled off a recruiting coup the spring of2013 by landing 5-star Bobby Portis, a 6-10 forward out of Little Rock Hall, and 4-star 6-9 center Moses Kingsley, a Mississippi native by way of Huntington Prep who was the No. 43 recruit in the nation.
They joined a team that featured junior Rashad “Ky” Madden, an Arkansas native who was as close to a 5-star as a player can get at No. 36 in his recruiting class. Those three recruiting class all-stars joined a plucky, hard-working Michael Qualls who could be a nightmare on the court and while becoming a favorite of the Arkansas fan base.
Any of this ringing a bell yet?
The team started off 13-2 against a softer schedule to allow Portis and Kingsley to adapt to the college game, but included what was supposed to be a mild early challenge in the Maui Classic.
Of the three games in Hawaii, two were difficult, high emotion games. The Hogs took down an overmatched Minnesota team, lost to a feisty California team in a game that went down to the wire, and dropped a game to No. 11 Gonzaga into another game that was tight down to the final minute.
Anderson’s team knocked off Clemson in its only Power Five game in December and rolled over UTSA 104-71 in the final tune-up before SEC play.
For those not catching on yet, switch out Minnesota for Louisville, California and Gonzaga for Creighton and San Diego State, Clemson for Oklahoma and change that close loss to Gonzaga to a close win over the Aztecs and you’re looking at a mirror of this season. Also, change a 33-point win over UTSA to a 34-point win over UNC-Ashville heading into the conference slate and these teams could be considered twins.
But, this is where the seasons get scarily similar.
The Razorbacks struggled to adjust to SEC play, finding themselves in tightly contested games, including a pair in overtime. Two of the losses that sent Arkansas tumbling to a 2-6 conference start were at LSU and against Missouri.
For those keeping track, the Razorbacks began this season 2-5 in conference play with a loss at LSU and a loss to Missouri.
If you’ve got that weird feeling that there’s something you remember about the start of that season and you can’t pull it out of your brain, here’s the help you need. One of those two wins was an overtime victory over Kentucky when Qualls hit what might be the second most famous shot in Arkansas history.
So with the season being such a perfect mirror to the current counterpart, it would be impolite to not reveal what happened.
Possibly the most talented team of the Anderson era went on to win eight of the next nine games, highlighted by another overtime win over No. 17 Kentucky and capped by a 110-80 drubbing of Ole Miss.
That put Arkansas in prime position for an NCAA Tournament bid at 21-9 overall and 10-7 in SEC play heading into March.
But this is where Razorback fans might want to look away. The Hogs dropped a road game to Alabama to close the season and lost to South Carolina, 71-69, in their lone game in the SEC Tournament.
That dropped Arkansas to 21-11 with a 10-8 conference record. They were a bubble team whose only wins over ranked opponents were a couple of victories over Kentucky.
The committee didn’t think much of the schedule Anderson had put together and woefully undervalued the SEC.
That Kentucky team that Arkansas beat twice received a No. 8 seed, but went to the national championship game.
Florida needed overtime to knock off Arkansas, 84-82. The Gators received a No. 1 seed and joined the Wildcats in forming half of that year’s Final Four.
The Tennessee team the Hogs lost to in a close game on the road was forced into an NCAA Tournament play-in game that the Volunteers won on their way to the Sweet 16.
In the end, the selection committee sent a broken-hearted Arkansas team to the NIT.
The Hogs took down an overmatched Indiana St. team 91-71 in the opening round, setting up a rematch with Cal from the Maui Classic.
The Golden Bears were coming off their own disappointment. They too were in great position to slide into the NCAA Tournament, but went 2-5 to close the season at 21-14, 10-8.
Hosting Arkansas in Berkley, Cal sent the Razorbacks home with another tournament loss at their hands, 75-64.
Qualls, Portis, Kingsley and Madden all returned the following year, the most successful of the Mike Anderson era. Arkansas went 27-9, losing as a No. 5 seed in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to North Carolina.
Portis was selected in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.
Should the seasons continue to mimic one another, Arkansas will have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament.
Going 8-1 after a difficult start to the SEC slate would put Arkansas at 21-7 with Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky to close the season.
The Razorbacks would likely need two wins from either those final three games or the SEC Tournament to avoid being shipped off to NIT purgatory like the 2013-14 team.
Of course, this all requires a win over Texas A&M in Bud Walton and, depending on when you’re reading this, going on that big run is either a legitimate possibility or it’s already been dashed.
If so, there’s a very nice series of baseball games happening under a closed roof at the home of the Texas Rangers down in Arlington against Texas, TCU and Oklahoma State in just over a week which might warrant your attention.
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RAZORBACKS DROP ANOTHER CLOSE GAME ON ROAD, FALLING AT BAYLOR
IT’S MORE ABOUT WHO, NOT WHAT FOR DAN ENOS AS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR FOR HOGS
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SAM PITTMAN TURNS IN PERFORMANCE AT ALABAMA COACHES CLINIC THAT WILL HELP HOGS’ FUTURE
HOW “40 MINUTES OF HELL” CAME TO BE UNDER RICHARDSON AT ARKANSAS
DAVIS RECEIVES ONE OF THE HIGHEST ACCOLADES A HOG CAN RECEIVE AND HE PROBABLY DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT
WHAT WILL SPRING PRACTICE REVEAL ABOUT HOW HOGS WILL LOOK IN THE FALL
RELIVE THE DAN ENOS ERA AT ARKANSAS TO GAIN INSIGHT ON WHERE THE RAZORBACK OFFENSE IS HEADED
RAZORBACKS’ ANTHONY BLACK RESPONDS PERFECTLY TO LSU SLAP
HOGS’ COACH SAM PITTMAN HAS BECOME A TRUE HEAD COACH WITH MODERN ERA WISDOM
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RAZORBACKS FINALLY ABSORBING DEFENSIVE LESSON MUSSELMAN HAS BEEN TEACHING
HOGS TEAM WAS ONCE SO GREAT THE COACH SCHEDULED A 3-GAME SERIES WITH THAT GENERATION’S VERSION OF THE 90S BULLS WITH JORDAN, PIPPEN
IF NICK SMITH COMES BACK, HE MAY NOT BE A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR FOR RAZORBACKS
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