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For a long time this season there were questions about what the Razorbacks’ biggest strength was this season. The answer appears to be depth and that manifested itself again when Arkansas finished the season sweep over Texas A&M. Led by Daryl Macon, the Hog bench outscored the Aggies’ bench 27-4. More on that and some other tidbits here, which includes talking about how the Hogs went 7-0 in the regular season against teams from the Lone Star State.
It was also a big game for Manny Watkins, who was second on the team in scoring last night with 13 points. A trend has started emerged for Watkins, he seems to really like playing against teams that is dad used to coach at. This article shows that Watkins averages 5.5 points a game but that takes a significant jump in the games against Missouri and Texas A&M.
Arkansas isn’t safe by any means yet, but they are getting closer to being off the bubble. This is during a year those are saying this is a very weak bubble. This article on SB Nation points out that this isn’t a new discussion, saying the bubble is weak is a very popular and easy thing to do. So while you might hear talk of Arkansas getting in because of a weak bubble this year, just remember that has been the case for all the bubble teams of the past few years.
After a smooth opening weekend, Arkansas will look to continue the positive start with a weekend series against Bryant. If that name sounds familiar, they beat the Razorbacks in the first game of the 2013 Regionals at Kansas State. Eric Cole will want to continue his hot start as well, he started out 5-11 from the plate including an inside the park home run. Cole has done well at the plate and says the improvements the pitching staff have made has also made things better defensively.
More on the new recruiting territories for the new assistant coaches. As expected, John Scott Jr. will take up the Georgia area that was left open by Rory Segrest’s departure. Chad Walker will be starting in the East Texas area. While both are coming from recent stops in the NFL, Bielema feels confident about their ability to jump right into recruiting smoothly.