Arkansas Razorbacks News: Expect the Unexpected

Predicting Arkansas basketball this season is looking more and more like a fool’s errand. Arkansas looked dead when they were down by double digits to LSU after losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt. Now they have a signature road win thanks to a Manny Watkins’ jump shot that only Alandise Harris would be proud of. It’s not quite as wild as the Henry Heave, but if the Hogs make the tournament will we start calling this the Manny Miracle?

The win did wonders for the Hogs’ RPI, bumping it back up to 36, and improved their record against the top-50 to a respectable 3-4. There is still plenty of time for weird stuff to happen, but those numbers should make Razorback fans feel much better about their tournament chances.

Some more reading about the win is here. A couple of big takeaways from this was the game Moses Kingsley had and how the Hogs were able to match Sindarius Thornwell step for step. Kingsley’s line of 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks don’t jump off the page but he finally had the impact that many thought he could have all year. Thornwell still put up 27, but Jaylen Barford and Dusty Hannahs were able to keep up with his scoring the entire game.

Razorback baseball has their first pitch this weekend, complete with a nice forecast for the weather! Dave Van Horn will give the opening day start to Blaine Knight. The rest of the projected opening day lineup is here , there isn’t a ton of turnover, but there are enough new faces to shake things up from last season. The entire team, especially Van Horn, have been vocal about how they expect this season to go much differently than last year’s disappointment.

The promotion schedule for this year is also out. Shirsey Friday’s are back, but nothing on which former players will be included in that. There will be plenty of good days to head to Baum Stadium, especially with the loaded conference schedule they have this season.

A quick offseason football piece from ESPN, talking about how the SEC will be loaded at the running back position in 2017. It feels like this gets repeated every year, but looking at the list which includes Rawleigh Williams front and center, it’s hard to argue the depth the conference has.