Arkansas-LSU gets primetime spot

[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Hog Sports Network daily podcast. Now here's your host, Matt Jones. [00:00:11] Speaker B: Ethan Westerman in studio with me. Today. We'll talk Razorback baseball as they continue to prepare for the College World Series Saturday night against LSU in Omaha. But first, a word from Kendall King. [00:00:21] Speaker A: Kendall King, we're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King, Soapbox and Shopcart. Together these brands represent new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are Design. [00:00:53] Speaker B: We told you yesterday we'd have a game time by the time we came on air today, and we do. Arkansas is going to play LSU Saturday night at 6 o' clock at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. Razorbacks and the Tigers. This is the big draw of the weekend and we'll talk a little bit more about receding and seeding and some stuff like that. But when you think about Kate Anderson, he's a big time draft prospect, probably going to be a top, I would say 10, maybe 15 if he falls a little bit pick in this year's Major League Baseball draft. You got Zach Root, who I think he has done nothing but help himself with, you know, from a draft perspective with what he's done here in the postseason. And he could potentially help himself some more if he has another good outing or two up in Nebraska. It kind of has a feel of an SEC football Saturday night. I mean, you're going to have a packed stadium, prime time, espn. This is about as big as it gets outside of playing for the championship. [00:01:55] Speaker C: Yeah. And even going back to just this past weekend, I feel like it's set up for Arkansas that as long as Arkansas keeps winning, it kind of gets the big draw game. I mean, just look at how it all shapes up. If they were to beat lsu, then they'd probably get UCLA or, or the Cinderella or a Murray State team that everybody's cheering to watch and hope that would, you know, other than Arkansas fans would probably be cheering for Murray State. And then if beyond that you're in a championship series, it's just like if you look at how it lined up for him, it's kind of big draw after big draw. This past weekend was kind of a nice little precursor. It is funny because this is a year that there's a lot of teams, I think that their path to get where they Want to go feels, I don't want to say because it's never easy this time of year, but easier than it looked on paper. Arkansas, it feels like it's very much having to completely earn it even based on paper. And just as far as it's been chalk for them, like everybody else, it's been kind of wonky. But Arkansas, it's kind of just held. [00:02:52] Speaker B: Chalk and it hasn't been easy. But I think there's a, there's a value this time of year of not playing as many stressful games. Like, like take for instance what LSU went through, having to get through its regional, having to deal with Little Rock and you know, they lose a game and then that Monday night, you know, winner take all game. It's stressful up until about, I mean really the end, but, but really through the 8th inning or so when they kind of started to pull away in that game. Then you look at Arkansas, it was pretty low stress in the regional game one, not a whole lot of stress and certainly not against Creighton in the super regional. High stress against Tennessee. But then you jump out on them early in the second game and you just kind of cruise. I feel like there's, there's, there's value both ways. There's value, you know, that old iron sharpens iron, you know, thing that you'll hear a million times in football preseason or you know that there's value in that. But there's also a lot of value in playing in some more stress free type settings and interesting to see how that works out when we get to Omaha. [00:04:03] Speaker C: Yeah, and there's, at this time of year, I think it's all about like you can just toss out so much of what's already happened and just how a team is feeling and playing. And I just think Arkansas right now is very, very confident. I mean you can tell from the players they are not lacking confidence right now. And I just think that that can take you a long way in Omaha that right now I do think that there's the feel of could this be the year from everybody. [00:04:28] Speaker B: I think Arkansas is a better team than LSU and I'm talking about a better team. I don't know that they're going to be the better team on Saturday night because Kate Anderson is a great equalizer and you know, but I think Arkansas's got the better lineup. I think Arkansas's got the better bullpen. LSU's got the better starting pitching or at least they've got the better collective starting pitching. I don't know About Rude and Anderson, you know, when they pitched against or against each other the first time, Anderson went five and two thirds, gave up three runs. Root went, I think six innings, gave up two or three runs. And so that kind of came out with the wash. The difference in that game was that Aiden Jimenez was not able to pitch up to the level that he'd been pitching until that point in the season. He walked a couple of batters and that was the difference in the game. I mean, if they bring Gabe Gackel in, and I said this after that weekend, I said, I think that that might teach them something about, hey, or make them go back and reevaluate, when do we bring pitchers in and how do we use them? Because I think if they would have brought Gackel in that night, on that Friday night in Baton Rouge, they may win the game. It may never go to extra innings. Uh, you know, I mean, we'll never know. But now, I mean, what'd you see the other day? Whenever they beat Tennessee, they go Zach Root, they go to Gabe Gackle. And I don't know, I feel like that might have been a little bit of a learning experience for the Razorbacks, but they should have, they should have won that game. I think that was one of the. There's two or three games during the regular season, like Missouri State on a Tuesday night when you blow a five run lead, the ninth, Georgia when you can't hold a lead in the 11th, and then there's the LSU game on Friday night. Those are games, I think that you look back on this season and say, hey, you know, if you do this, this and this, these were really easily winnable games, but there was a lot of value in. Losing is not the worst thing you can do during the regular season because it teaches you what you need to do when you get to crunch time. [00:06:23] Speaker C: I mean, do you remember whenever the rails were coming off the season, when they lost on. Well, they lost on opening day. Right. [00:06:30] Speaker B: Baseball did not. They almost did. They almost did. [00:06:32] Speaker C: Washington State, they lost to Camp or I say opening day down in Arlington. [00:06:36] Speaker B: Oh, they lost to Kansas State. [00:06:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Remember when the rails were coming off the season then? [00:06:40] Speaker B: I don't, but I mean, I know how some people. [00:06:42] Speaker C: I know. That's what I'm saying. It's just, it's. There's a lot of games that you look back on the regular season and it's like this probably would have gone a different way if we're playing. Teams are playing now or just like you learn so much over the course of the season, you learn how to manage your pitching, you learn how to. Your confidence picks up with your lineup if they start to, you know, get more at bats. I just think that you just learned so much over the course of the season where there's a lot of things you learned in the regular season that you can't. I hate when people just try and throw away that the regular season happened. It did happen. But I do think that you're at a point where it's just like lessons. It's feathers in the cap. [00:07:14] Speaker B: I wish, and I don't have any, you know, any expectations that this is really going to happen, but people would maybe reflect on their freakouts during baseball season and learn from that moving forward about how they react to things. I had a former boss here who used to have a saying that he loved to quote. He said baseball is like church. Many attend and few understand. And you know, but, but baseball, it's. You have to ride the waves of this thing. You know, what happens on, you know, one night is not necessarily a reflection of a team being good or bad. It's just what happened on that night. And I think you get to a certain point in this, and certainly we're at this point in the season now that you just kind of look at the percentages. Arkansas is a very good team. LSU is a very good team. You know, and so, you know, those, those, those, those hiccups in the season, that's all they are, they're hiccups. It's not necessarily, you know, the three, the three series where they lose the series to A and M and Georgia and Florida. There wasn't a point in any of those series where it just felt like they were just totally getting outplayed or at least I didn't feel like there were. You know, it was usually a game that, you know, you win, there's a game you lose and then there's a toss up game. And for whatever reason, three weeks in a row, that toss up game, the brakes went the other team's way. I've always felt, and I've maintained all season that I thought this was a really good team. [00:08:45] Speaker C: Yeah. And I do think it's funny you've been beating the horse over since we got in here for after the selection show that you do think that these are like should have been the top two teams. And it's just funny how it works out that they're going to meet in Omaha and it's. Arkansas has a chance to show that it truly was the better team. And it's learned from those, you know, hiccups or learning when you should have managed your pitching a different way. It's just this is the time were, I don't know, it's all the cameras are brightest. I mean, I wasn't, I certainly wasn't watching. It was at 1am when did it finish? [00:09:19] Speaker B: 1:17Am you talking about in Baton Rouge? [00:09:21] Speaker C: Yeah, I fell asleep. I just think it's funny because it's like, you know, you go through all these things that for each team is like such a big experience. You learn so much from it. And people that follow the team, you go through these highs and lows. And then 6pm ESPN, like cameras are on and that's whenever the nation's watching and they get to see what, I don't know. It's just like there's so much that goes on behind the scenes for each team each season. And then the, the production's on and everybody sees that one like three hour period of a team and they make their conclusions. [00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Hey, speaking of seating, I'm gonna, I'm gonna read you a, A, a sentence here. You use your education. Tell me, is this a statement or is, or is this a fact or is this an opinion? Ready? Arkansas and lsu, the two highest seeded teams remaining, will play each other first at the College World Series on Saturday. [00:10:10] Speaker C: That's a fact. Okay, there's a maybe. Had you said Arkansas and lsu, the two teams that should have been seeded one and two. That's an opinion. But you just stated a fact. [00:10:21] Speaker B: Okay, because this is a tweet that I sent a couple of days ago after LSU beat West Virginia at the Baton Rouge Super Regional. This thing has been. And we never know when things are gonna like. One of the fascinating things about our profession, our world, if you will, is that we never know what's going to like, strike a chord with people. You can spend two days, you know, writing a big takeout piece on something where you've got, you know, all this detail and you've talked to people and it's the only place you're gonna be able to find any of this information. And it might get read X number of times. And then you write a story that, hey, the Razorbacks have partnered with Jello cups and that thing will become your most read story of the year. It's fascinating and infuriating all at the same time. So I sent this social media post after LSU won the Baton Rouge super. And the number of people that have reacted to this as if I'm saying that they should recede the College World Series and the SEC got screwed and all this different stuff. It's like, guys, reading comprehension here. This is not what I said. But, man, that is, that's been fascinating. I think that's really one of the frustrating things that I have with society is that people oftentimes, you know, they, they don't hear what you actually say. They, they hear what, you know, they want you to have actually said or something like that. [00:11:54] Speaker C: Yeah. And I, it's just funny how that works because it's just, just take a little time, read it for what it is and tell me what's wrong again. [00:12:02] Speaker B: Arkansas and lsu, the two highest seated teams remaining, will play each other first at the College World Series on Saturday. This is not, this is not a, an argument against the bracket as it is or anything. It's just pointing out these are the two best teams that are remaining. [00:12:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:16] Speaker B: That are going to play Saturday. Or at least from a, from, from how the tournament selection committee seated them in the, in, you know, on Memorial Day. These are the two best teams remaining and that they're going to play first. Now, I do think there is a discussion to have, and Bub and I talked about this yesterday and I plan on digging into this a little bit more once I get to Omaha about should you reseed teams once you get to the College World Series? And that's not exclusive just to this year and this tournament. And, you know, this Arkansas, lsu, ucla, Murray State bracket. That is a conversation that's been had for years in every sport, like in every league. The NFL does it. The NFL got to a point where they had the discussion and then they made the change. I know it's happened in Major League Baseball. I know it's a discussion, I think that's been had in the NBA. You know, it's a discussion that you hear with March Madness, you know, like, like, do you reseed teams once they get to a new site? Suite 16 rolls around. Do you reseed the teams at that point? Final Four rolls around. Do you recede the teams at that point? You know where. I think. And this is where a lot of change typically comes from. I would not be surprised if in the. They got to get, they got to get their format figured out first. But, like, maybe the next. Because nothing's ever good enough for the College Football Playoff. But maybe the next round of conversations is, hey, do we reseed teams once you get to the next round? And kind of preliminarily, you're Even having some of that now with the decision they made recently where you're not going to give conference champions an automatic buy to the second round. So I think this is a discussion that's worth having. But again, in this social media voice, that's not what I said. [00:14:01] Speaker C: And also, some people thought you were just being like a sec homer, homer. Like, look at this. Look what the conference did. And I'm like, I promise Matt doesn't care. But yeah, no, I'm, I like the idea of reseeding to get it more, I guess accurate. But like, I also am a bracket purist. I think. I love whenever a bracket just does bracket things. And you know, I, I don't know, I just think, you know, if Murray State is the 4 seed, maybe they get reseated. They look at them be like, okay, this wasn't a 4C. But if their path is just always, you have to beat the top dog. I don't know. I'm a bracket purist. Just keep what pairings were supposed to happen with the initial bracket where you thought initially. And I don't know, I would, I would personally hate to see a reseed, but I get why people want one. And I think it could make it more like Arkansas, lsu. I think if there was a receipt, obviously I think they'd be one and two. I think there's a very good shot they would meet in the finals. But now you're getting it first game of the College World Series. So I get it. Like it's. But also that's just, it's just what the bracket did this year, I think. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Is one of the things that frustrates me, and it's not about the World Series, it's in any sport, is when you see a matchup. And I'm not saying Ark Zelas used that matchup, even though I think it could be. But when you see a matchup, say in the semifinals or the quarterfinals, where it's like, it's clear as day, this is the championship because these are the two best teams. Sometimes it works out that way because a team, you know, they didn't play their best and then they just got hot like what Ole Miss did going to Omaha a few years ago. But I think that, you know, if I'm in the business of trying to put the best product on television at the most, you know, the time when the most eyeballs are going to be on there. So maybe said another way, if I'm ESPN and I'm trying to get the most people to tune into the College World Series championship round. Wouldn't you want it to be an instance where you have potentially the two best teams remaining that would play each other in that round? [00:16:13] Speaker C: Yeah, this is where I come back to. I'm just a bracket purist, though, like. [00:16:16] Speaker B: Yes, and that's, that's fine. [00:16:18] Speaker C: I mean, I just think that, you know, regardless, once you get to the championship series, I think eyeballs are going to be on. I don't, of course, if it's two huge brands that adds to it. But like, I don't know, give me Arkansas, Coastal Carolina on abc, shout out Jack Jones. But because I saw that the Saturday games on ABC this year. Right. [00:16:39] Speaker B: It always is on abc. And part of that is. And you know, there's a whole other discussion to have here about ESPN and the monopoly it has on college baseball and not making sometimes the best choices for college baseball. The reason they do that is because they have Sunday night baseball. And you know, God forbid you have your college World Series championship be, you know, on the night that you have Sunday night baseball. I don't know why ESPN maybe a couple of weeks out of the year, hey, if you've got the Little League World Series, let them play on Sunday night. If you got the College World Series, let them play on Sunday night. You know, we don't have to have Red Sox, Yankees on Sunday night baseball ten times a year. [00:17:25] Speaker C: Well, I heard that this past weekend some team was playing on ESPN you. Because they had the bananas. [00:17:30] Speaker B: Oh, my God, yes. Yeah. No, you're right. [00:17:33] Speaker C: And it was, it caused some outrage. [00:17:35] Speaker B: Well, it should. [00:17:36] Speaker C: Yeah, it should because it's like, are you really trying to help grow this game or are you just trying to. I know. The bananas. Put the bananas on ESPN plus, man. [00:17:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:47] Speaker C: People, if you want to go watch them, go to the ballpark, find out where they're playing that summer. [00:17:51] Speaker B: Have you watched the Bananas on TV one time? No, I turn it off. Like if there was a. I can't remember what. I was watching a baseball game within the last. God, all the days start to run together. But I was watching something and they were playing banana ball at Clemson's football stadium. And it's like, I have no desire to watch this at all. They're coming to fate or some spin off the wild. What they call them the. The party Bond, Party gang, party animals. It's like the hard party animals. Am I good? Okay, I got there. So the party animals are coming to bomb in August, I think. Well, I got. [00:18:30] Speaker C: No, here's my thing. These type. The Harlem Globetrotter, Savannah Bananas. These teams, people that want to watch that are gonna, it's like, it's a fun. If you're going to the game type thing and you bring your little kid and you have a fun, like. But throwing it on ESPN2 as if it's like some huge, I don't know, on the same time that there's super regional games going on, as if it. [00:18:54] Speaker B: Is equal in importance. [00:18:56] Speaker C: Yeah. As if like this little comedy skit that's happening on is just as important as these two teams trying to make it to the place that they've been dreaming of. Trying to make it their whole lives. But let's put the Bananas on ESPN too. God forbid we watch. God forbid we have to watch Coastal Carolina versus I, you know, and, and. [00:19:15] Speaker B: Some people will say, well, you know, ESPN's in the Business of, of entertainment and, and Right. And I get all that. But as the, you know, as the, the entity that controls basically the sport, I think you have an obligation to the sport and its fans to highlight that. And if you don't want to, then get rid of it, go let, you know, go let CBS have it again or something. And I'm not saying CBS is going to do any better of a job. Honestly, I don't think anybody can do a better job than ESPN because of all the different platforms that they have. But, you know, don't, don't do the fans of the sport a disservice by, you know, the decisions that you make. [00:19:59] Speaker C: Yeah. And I think that it's like it comes down to. Yeah, it's, they're all about entertainment, but you gotta give a chance for eyeballs to see it before you like make these judgments that it's not worth putting that on ESPN too. I mean, softball, it's what I cover. It's grown tremendously just because they're putting it on tv. Like that's literally. It's linked directly the TV ratings. It's. They just had an all time record viewership. [00:20:25] Speaker B: And I think baseball could have similar growth if they would give it an opportunity to be seen. [00:20:32] Speaker C: This new softball league that just started that Briellis is in is gonna have some success just because ESPN's putting it on. She plays tonight on ESPN too. It's like putting it on TV solves a lot of problems. [00:20:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, again, I just, I would like to see college baseball given the type of treatment that football and football's not even a fair comparison. Maybe that basketball is given. You know, basketball. You turn on an ESPN network any Any Saturday, at any point in time, after about 10am you're gonna find a basketball game. You know, why can't you have that during baseball season? I think that, you know, I think that it would be. It'd be good for the sport. I think it'd be good for. Good for a lot of people. The schedule this weekend in Omaha, Friday night, or I should say Friday afternoon, Arizona is going to play Coastal Carolina. Talking about a national championship that nobody cared about. The 2016 rematch there between Arizona or Arizona and Coastal. That's going to be one o' clock on espn. Oregon State and Louisville will be Friday night at six. And then on Saturday you'll have UCLA against Murray State at one o' clock and then Arkansas and LSU at six. [00:21:40] Speaker C: Just funny reading those off. It's just like. Not just like. I mean, it's highlighted circled star like Arkansas, LSU is just by far the best. Yeah, I mean, I think Murray State, UCLA will have a lot of people interested just because we want to keep riding the racer train. [00:21:55] Speaker B: But I was texting somebody last night that, you know, they said it's always fun whenever you've got like a. An underdog in Omaha. I've been there when there's. Stony Brook was in Omaha in 2012, and it's always kind of interesting because Omaha is a. It is a Razorback town when they come to town because there are so many Nebraska fans who have fond memories of Dave Van Horn. And, you know, I mean, it's. It is every year you go to the ballpark to a Razorback game that they're there and you got people sitting there in Nebraska clothes and they are cheering on the Hogs, but they also go there and they cheer on the underdog. Arkansas didn't play Stony Brook. I kind of wonder, you know, what's that going to be like if Arkansas plays Mercy? Obviously it'll be a pro Arkansas crowd because of the way that the Razorback fans go up there and kind of take over that town. But they got LSU to contend with. Boy, the ticket prices for this game on Saturday night are way higher than the ticket prices for the other sessions in Omaha. These are two fan bases that go up there and they expect to take over the town. And now not only are they both there at the same time, but it's not even like they're there on alternating days. It's. They're there together. [00:23:09] Speaker C: Yeah, it'll be funny because that's right after Murray State, right? [00:23:12] Speaker B: Yeah, Murray State, UCLA played the first. [00:23:14] Speaker C: I am sure that Arkansas. Arkansas LSU fans will just already be in the building for that. And you. Everybody's gonna be cheering for Murray State. Tell me the UCLA baseball fan base that's traveling out to Omaha. [00:23:26] Speaker B: McCronen. [00:23:26] Speaker C: I'm about to say, I think Murray State's going to actually have a nice little. You know, they're gonna get some cheers every time they do something. Oral Roberts, kind of similar thing happened a few years ago. Right. Where a lot of people were cheering on them there. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Were you? [00:23:40] Speaker C: Yeah. I just think that it's. That's what's so fun about postseason is whenever these little teams make it far and they pick up fans that. I saw that Murray State, like, a photo of their. Their field from, like, half a decade ago, and it was like they had to make a lot of investments just to keep to where people want to go play games there. And they did. And it's like they're kind of seeing the benefit of that now. [00:24:01] Speaker B: Apparently, Dan Skerka, their head coach, is the one who cuts their grass. I mean, it's like, it's. You know, it's. There are a lot of baseball programs that are like that, but once the higher you get up, the less you see that. But. And so it's kind of interesting that you still got the, you know, it's a reminder maybe that you still got D1 programs where the coaches cut the grass. You don't have the, you know, the big rounds crew that works there year round. Yeah. [00:24:23] Speaker C: And it's just a cool story. I like. I've liked watching Murray State. They're fun. [00:24:29] Speaker B: One more thing on the World Series, the. The field there is going to be so much different this year because of the conference. The combination of conference realignment and upsets has got this field looking way different this year. You got two SEC teams there, and then you've got an ACC team. Louisville, Big Ten, UCLA, Big Big 12, Arizona. Yes. Some of this does throw me off. Murray State from the Missouri Valley, Coastal from the Sun Belt, and Oregon State is an independent. So you got six conferences plus an independent at the World Series. That is a totally different field than a year ago when you had four from the SEC and four from the acc. [00:25:07] Speaker C: Yeah, I like that. It's like, it's some diversity, and there's definitely some teams that you're like, how did you get here in that bunch? But I also think that there is some, like, still, like. Like Coastal Carolina. Tell me if you have a different view on them. I view them as, like, the Gonzaga of baseball. Like, they are just. They're pretty good all the time. [00:25:24] Speaker B: I've never thought about it that way. [00:25:26] Speaker C: But, like, it's like, it's not surprising to me that they're there. But like in maybe rewind a decade ago and you're like, oh, wow. [00:25:33] Speaker B: I think the surprising part about Coastal this year is that Gary Gilmore retired after last season and he's the one who led them to, you know, all of their success. It'd be like doing this in the first year under a new coach. I think this is maybe the surprising part. And not just that, but I mean, their record is really good. They're 53 and 11. [00:25:49] Speaker C: Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. Like, that's a team that, like, it's like, not surprising to see them at Omaha anymore. Kind of like how Gonzaga wouldn't. Isn't at all to see them make a deep run. But they're not what you. [00:26:02] Speaker B: This is Coastal's first time in Omaha since 2016 when they won it. Kind of interesting. Half the field. Lsu, Coastal, Oregon State and ucla. This is their first time playing at the College World Series since they won it. So, like, the last time they went to Omaha, they were the national champion. And so that's kind of a. There's always a lot of interesting little side angles and storylines, and that's one of them this week. But the number of conferences that are represented there this week is. Is really interesting. And if you wanted to get into the receding conversation just for fun, it would be Arkansas against Murray State. It would be LSU against Arizona. It would be Oregon State against Louisville, which is actually one of the first round matchups. And then the other one would be Coastal and ucla. Yeah, and the Coastal UCLA winner would play the Arkansas Murray State winner. So it actually would not change the brackets a whole lot this year. What it would do is basically it would take LSU out of one bracket and put them in the other, and then it would take a team out of the other bracket and put them in the other. [00:27:11] Speaker C: It is interesting to me, looking at the brackets right now. Like, you can always, you know, you get to this this far, and you can look on one side of the bracket that's maybe a little weaker looking than the other and say one of these teams is going to be playing for a national championship, and that's kind of that other side to me. I mean, Oregon State and Coastal, it's not like too surprising, but like, whenever the brackets first dropped, it's just. This isn't what anybody thought would happen. Like, I mean, it's just we're at a point where chaos has definitely happened. Like there's, there's no point in return. We have a very crazy field in Omaha, in my opinion. [00:27:44] Speaker B: Maybe put a different way, the way I said, it's like if you flipped LSU and Coastal in the brackets and then maybe altered a matchup or two. Yeah, that, that's what reseeding would look like this year. All right, we come back, there's some more Razorback sports going on than or some more Razorback news than just Razorback baseball. We'll get into that. But first, a word from Kendall King. [00:28:03] Speaker A: At Kendall King, we're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King Soapbox and Shopcart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are designed foreign. [00:28:34] Speaker B: Welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. They're committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products and come by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at Bentonville glass.com once you get the latest breaking news on all razorback [email protected] most in depth source for all Arkansas sports analysis, latest in recruiting, unique stories on all your favorite teams. You can subscribe today@whole hogsports.com While you're there, you can read Richard Davenport's commitment stories from yesterday. Marcus I got a couple of new football commits including Blair Irvin, a receiver from Bentonville High School. So, you know, I mean they don't get a whole lot of in state and we give them a hard time when they let the, you know, the in state players go. So here they've got an in state player from Bentonville. I've seen him play a few times and he seems to always impact the game as you would expect from a player who's going to have, you know, these high level offers in the first place. I would, I'm interested to see, you know, one of the things you don't know about high school players is are they done growing and if he's not done growing, maybe he grows into maybe more of an outside receiver. I think I see him right now as more of a slot inside type guy. [00:30:00] Speaker C: Two of the past three years that Arkansas has gotten a receiver from Bentonville. [00:30:04] Speaker B: So C.J. brown came from there as well. [00:30:06] Speaker C: Got a little bit of a trend, I guess, with the end state that they are getting. But. Yeah, no, they were. Trust me. I read a lot of Richard stories this weekend, and they were busy with football recruits. It was a big weekend for them. And honestly, I mean, what. There's great weekend to bring recruits on campus with baseball going on, softball. [00:30:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I even thought about that. But that's a great point. [00:30:27] Speaker C: Softball had a transition. [00:30:28] Speaker B: I wonder if they were able to get into the ballpark. [00:30:32] Speaker C: I'm not sure I saw. [00:30:33] Speaker B: I bet they weren't. [00:30:33] Speaker C: All the players were on the concourse. [00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah, they get in like. Like there's a certain number of student tickets that you can get in with the, the, the recruits. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure if. If Sam Pittman wanted four tickets, he'd. They'd find a way to get him four tickets. But. [00:30:54] Speaker C: Well, if they had a lot of, like, you know, people that are just wanting to see the. I mean, I bet parents would be willing to buy tickets too, if they know that they're there that weekend and now that would be a good experience. I just think it was a. Probably a great weekend to show off. You know, we're. [00:31:08] Speaker B: Now I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to know if football recruits came to the College World Series and reading Richard stories. I don't. I don't remember any of them talking about that being like an experience that they had going this weekend or going to the super. [00:31:21] Speaker C: Okay. I was like. I was like, I don't think they're busting them up to Omaha. [00:31:24] Speaker B: I got CWS on the brain. [00:31:25] Speaker C: Yeah. But say, imagine that if they just sent them up there to Omaha. Yeah, that'd probably not be good. But no, it's. The softball had a transfer visit too, so I'm expecting maybe news with that coming up. [00:31:40] Speaker B: This has got to be a tough time for baseball. And Dave, I think, touched on this a little bit before the super began, but this is the time where you got to go out and get your portal guys. And so it's hard on one hand, and I've heard that they've had some players in here or a player in here this week, and he said that they had some visits scheduled. So it's hard on one hand because you want to be here and show them around. And you're going to be in Omaha for, you know, who knows how long. Might be a few days, it might be two weeks. But on the other hand, you're in Omaha. [00:32:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:16] Speaker B: And you know, I mean, I think it's easier nowadays to recruit a player when they're not on campus because of all the different, you know, virtual tours you can give them and things like that. [00:32:29] Speaker C: Yeah. I've always wondered this. Whenever you're at the time of year where the portal is open and players are like top players that are going to land with the good programs are looking, I'm like, which is more beneficial that your season is over and you can really talk to these guys and get to know them more in depth and do that, or that your season is still going and they can look up and be like, okay, well, probably. [00:32:48] Speaker B: Just depends on the player. [00:32:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Because if I don't know how that all works right now, baseball transfers, like if they're coming on visits while the team is still playing because if they did, there's no way you go to bomb this weekend and you're like, oh, yeah, no, I think I'll go somewhere else. I just think that it's a very, like, I don't know, there's something to be said about a team that's still playing and that has the reputation like Arkansas does, has the fan base that like it's your best recruiting tool. Is them still playing right now and getting to see that. [00:33:18] Speaker B: I mean, it didn't seem to hurt Tennessee too much last year. [00:33:20] Speaker C: No. [00:33:20] Speaker B: They got Andrew Fisher, they got Liam Doyle, Gavin Keelan. I mean they got some players even though they weren't in Knoxville until about the end of June. [00:33:30] Speaker C: Who all on this team. I have. Baseball of all sports is the hardest to keep up with me. For roster who could be coming back next year. Who are like some of the guys in the lineup that are not draft eligible. [00:33:42] Speaker B: Ryder Helfer, Cam Kozel, those are the two that come to mind at the start. Charles Davilin is a sophomore, but he's a draft eligible sophomore. [00:33:50] Speaker C: Gotcha. [00:33:51] Speaker B: And I'm really interested to see what's going to happen with him. Get into some of these other guys. Like an Iredell. I. I would have to look up. Does he have eligibility left or is he like a true. This is the end of the line senior? I think he is, but I don't know that. But I know that he is. Well, no, I think he's a junior. Either way, he is draft eligible. I know that. And so I think Two things that are worth watching. Number one is Charles Davilon, and what does he do? And then number two, for some of these guys who are older guys, do they elect to come back? Are they told that if they come back, their. Their starting spot may not be guaranteed because they've recruited somebody else that's coming in? You know, those are all really interesting things to watch. And then from a pitching standpoint, you know, Gabe Gackel will be back, and that's. That's a big one. [00:34:45] Speaker C: How does the settlement impact all this too now? Because. [00:34:48] Speaker B: Well, you get 34 roster spots. [00:34:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:50] Speaker B: And one of the other things that, you know, like Tony Vitello made this comment the other night, by the way, that last night was the dumbest thing I've ever been involved in in my life, and I lived at Lake of the Ozarks for a summer, and he never said what the dumbest thing was. The Tennessee Riders said that they went and talked to him afterward to get some clarification, and he was talking about the house settlement. Now, you might say on its face, why would a coats publicly be criticizing something that the players are very excited about because they're going to be getting a cut of revenue? Well, I think it goes to the second half of that, which is that there's the roster cap, the 34 players. And as far as I know, there has not really been a determination made, or maybe there has been, and I just don't know it about. Is that 34 players starting on August 15th or 12th or whenever school starts, or is that 34 players when the season starts? Because it's very different. Because what happens if you have 34 players and God forbid, three of your arms snap in the. In the fall ball, then all of a sudden, I mean, you're. You're in hot water when you get to the season because you can't go out to your minor league program and sign somebody. So that's. I think that's one of the things that coaches are really hesitant about when it comes to this house settlement, is that it's going to reduce the rosters from 40 to 34. And you could say, well, they used to be at 35, so they've dealt with this. But still, 34 is less than 35. And that one roster spot might be, you know, it might make a big difference for you down the road somewhere. So I think that's what the coaches. Yeah, it's fascinating, though. I mean, you got a lot of different moving pieces here that affect how you're going to put a roster together. And it happens really fast because it's June 10th. They'll be on campus for the start of, you know, they'll be playing fall ball within three months, and they'll be on campus within about two. [00:36:58] Speaker C: Yeah. And it's, you know, like you said, God forbid you're in fall ball in three of your arms. But, like, how many D1 programs are there? [00:37:08] Speaker B: A lot. 300. And some. [00:37:09] Speaker C: Like that's going to happen with some of them. Like, it's like a God forbid that happens to your program, but, like, the odds are that will happen across the country to some programs. It's just. Yeah, it's going to be tough to navigate. And yeah, it's. I. I was in the same boat. I thought Tony Vital was mad about their having to stay in. Rogers right up next to me. [00:37:30] Speaker B: I heard lots of conspiracies about what he might have been talking about. [00:37:33] Speaker C: Turns out it was that. [00:37:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Anthony Christensen reported last night Arcus is going to play Houston at the Barclays center in Brooklyn. This is going to be December 20th. This is basketball, by the way, men's basketball. Arkansas and Houston, December 20th in Brooklyn. This is the home of the Nets. This is a really cool matchup. And he made a point that I had actually forgotten about that John Calipari, whenever he was trying to make the decision whether or not to take the Arkansas job, he called Kelvin Sampson because Sampson, his former AD was Hunter Jurecheck. And he said, can I trust this guy? And Sampson said, you know, you can absolutely trust him. And that phone call, at least from, from Calipari's, from, from my recollection of what he said was a big piece in him deciding to take the job here. [00:38:25] Speaker C: Those two are close. Those two are close. And this is what I. The first thing I thought when I saw that schedule news is this what happened last year in Arkansas's first game in the SEC. They got bullied at Tennessee. You better be ready. December 20th, that's right before SEC is about to start. You're going to get a dog fight with Houston is going to scrap and claw with you. So I think that might be, like, why John Caliper wanted this game then, too, is I think that that's going to be a real. Hey, learn some toughness right now, if you haven't already. So that's a good game, though. I think that'll get a lot of people excited. [00:38:58] Speaker B: Yeah, it's going to be on a Saturday, the Saturday before Christmas in New York. So I'm sure Some people might want to go up and take that game in Calipari. When they played Michigan at Madison Square Garden last year, he was really taken aback I think by the number of Razorback fans who had made the trip there. You know, I mean New York is a melting pot. You got, you know, alumni's of probably every university in the world. They're in New York. And so a lot of people just took the opportunity to, you know, to make the short trip over and see the Razorbacks play. But I know a lot of people from here also went up there and so I think the expectation is that they'll probably do that again. But this year it's going to be in Brooklyn and it's not going to be in Manhattan. So Arkansas, Houston. This is the second high profile game that has been announced and it hasn't been officially announced, but they have officially announced Duke on Thanksgiving at the United center in Chicago. So this is at least two games they're going to play in NBA arenas. Calipari has said he would like to go back, I think he has said this to Dallas at some point in time. You know, they're going to the rest of the schedule. We know they're going to host Baylor at Bud Walton. We don't know the date yet, but that was contracted as part of that game they played last year. And then we know Arkansas is going to host an ACC team as part of the SEC ACC challenge. We just don't know which one. [00:40:16] Speaker C: You knew when you were getting John Calipari that you were going to get big games and like made for tv but like my goodness, this, this is back to back years where it's filling up with like holy cow. You have some great like trips that people, if people want to take trips, you have great trips to take. You have great brains. [00:40:31] Speaker B: That's what it ought to be. [00:40:32] Speaker C: Yeah, it is. And it's, I mean it only helped them last year I think like it's not like you looked at their non conference schedule and they had a bad loss per se. I think people were upset that they didn't really have like the Michigan was what they were hanging their hat on for so long. But like it helped them from you know, you got out of the way early like playing some big brands and they did have, they had their fair share of cupcakes in there, don't get me wrong. But they, it's not like the non conference schedule didn't have any flair to it and I think that this year is going to be also they were Assembling that schedule on very short notice, like new staff and everything. I think they'll probably, it'll be interesting to see what their buy games are this year, but you see what they already have going together and then you think about what the SEC brings back, which it's going to be a gauntlet again. You good schedule. [00:41:18] Speaker B: As, as a coach, I think you have an obligation to, to schedule games that are going to interest your fans, especially the longer the season is. So, you know, like basketball is a 31 game season or baseball is a 56 game season. It's hard to do an apples to apples comparison with football because Arkansas football is so down relative to all the other sports, you know. But I do hate the conversation that people have. Well, you know, we got to get to 6 and 6, so you know, why are we playing this team? What's like, you know, just figure out how to win. Like instead of trying to take this minimalist approach, like figure out how to win the games that you've scheduled. Personally, I like the fact they go to Salt Lake City next year to play Utah. I like the fact that they've got, you know, I like the Oklahoma State game last year. Going to Stillwater. To me, and not to compare Stillwater with Salt Lake City, but to me going to other power campuses like that, like that's part of the experience of being a college football fan. And you know, so I really hope that in all these talks that the SEC is having about what do we do about scheduling, do we go to nine games? If we do that, do we drop this, you know, power requirement? I hope that that's not lost because I think being able to take trips and watch your team, that's just part of the experience of being a fan and I would hate to see that go away in any sport. [00:42:37] Speaker C: Yeah, and you think about it too, with their schedule and I should say. [00:42:41] Speaker B: Trips that are not part of your normal conference rot. [00:42:44] Speaker C: I think people get upset whenever they think that like you don't have the big games on your campus type of deal. Number one in the sec, you get those. I think it's cool to take those trips when you can. [00:42:54] Speaker B: Well, in Arkansas basketball, they're gonna play Baylor and they're gonna play an ACC team. [00:42:58] Speaker C: Yeah, they're gonna get two big games. [00:42:59] Speaker B: At home as far as we know. I mean, who knows, there may be another one. [00:43:02] Speaker C: Yeah, Baylor. So Baylor was a home and home with. Cause they played in Dallas. [00:43:06] Speaker B: Baylor was a. I wouldn't call it a home and home. It was a two year contract where one game was played in Dallas and one game is going to be played in Fayetteville. [00:43:14] Speaker C: So yeah, this year they're going to have. And tell me that the, I mean last year them picking Miami to play Arkansas was supposed to be a bigger game than it was. [00:43:21] Speaker B: Didn't turn out very big, did it? [00:43:22] Speaker C: Yeah, but I would. They're going to send some big brand to come play Arkansas this year for sure. ESPN controls this thing. Yeah, I think it's going to be Baylor and you're going to have Baylor. [00:43:33] Speaker B: And like some John Caliperi said he wanted the ACC team to be North Carolina. [00:43:36] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. That's what I mean, I don't know. [00:43:38] Speaker B: If that's what he's going to get on your schedule. [00:43:40] Speaker C: You're probably going to have Baylor, a North Carolina ish type team. It won't be Duke because you're already playing them in the season and it'll. [00:43:48] Speaker B: Be somebody who was at home in the SEC ACC challenge last year. So that's going to, that's going to totally, you know, it's going to change the pool of teams that you have available to you. I wonder about like a Louisville. That would be John Caliperi versus Louisville would be. And then you got Kenny Payne on the bench too. That would be interesting. [00:44:08] Speaker C: And Louisville is going to be. They were good. I could totally see that happening. All I'm saying is you're going to have this coming up, fall and winter. You are going to have some great basketball games. You also great schedule. [00:44:22] Speaker B: You reported about women's basketball schedule. [00:44:24] Speaker C: Yeah, they're taking a good approach, I think. I think in your first year there's some, there's some times when you want to lighten up your schedule and this program needs it. They need to just get some confidence building and they don't have too many really difficult games on their schedule. Last year you think about them and they went to ucla, stuff like that. And I was like, man, this team just. They need a lighter schedule and they still have a few like good, like Harvard's a really good mid major that they're having come in and they're going to play at Texas Tech, which is not like a great Big 12 team. So it's a chance to maybe get a good win on the road and they'll have a ACC opponent on the road. They just, their schedule doesn't have a whole lot of highlights right now. But hey, they're just trying to build something. I'm. I'm excited to see what they look like I'm hoping I get to go to one of their practices soon once they start practicing as a team and see what that's all about, because I think they can take a step in the right direction for sure. [00:45:19] Speaker B: Texas Tech, I think it's the big game that's on schedule and that's it's clearly the one that stands out. [00:45:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:45:25] Speaker B: And it's funny, they'll be part of does the sec, is there an SEC ACC challenge for women's basketball, too? So they'll get a. [00:45:31] Speaker C: They'll get they played Boston College at home last year, so they're going to go somewhere. And the thing, it's just like they'll get probably matched up by ESPN with a lower accident because the acc, not all their teams get to play in it, but all the SEC ones always do. And then Texas Tech isn't that great. So it's a winnable game on the they have a chance. They have a chance to like win some games that maybe look bigger than they really are, if that makes sense. [00:45:56] Speaker B: Real quick. There's a lot of focus, and rightfully so, in the College World Series this week, but also there's the men's and women's outdoor national championships. The women, a little bit of a down season for them from an outdoor perspective. [00:46:09] Speaker C: They're. [00:46:09] Speaker B: They're not in the top five going into this. I can't remember a time when they weren't in the top five. I know they've dealt with some injuries. I think Rachel Glenn, who was just a tremendous athlete for them, I believe she's injured. The men are number three going into this. The schedule for this is going to be. And they alternate. So they will go day one. Men on Wednesday. That's going to be on ESPN at 6 o' clock. Day one for the women, Thursday at 6 o' clock. These times are central. This is going to be competed out in Oregon. And then the men's championship will be decided Friday. It'll start at 7:00 clock on ESPN2. And the women's championship will be decided Saturday night beginning at 8:00 Central Time on ESPN2. So the men, they have not won. Christina, who's writing the story on track for us this week, we're talking about this. The Arkansas men have not won an outdoor national championship since 2005, and that 1 and the 04 title were the two that got taken away as part of the Tyson gay NCAA investigation. So they haven't had an outdoor title that has counted since 2003. That's pretty hard to believe they've been really good indoors, but they haven't had an outdoor title. [00:47:19] Speaker C: Yeah, well, maybe that can change. [00:47:21] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if it does. Their number three, Southern Cal's number one, and Texas A&M is number two. Chris Bucknham yesterday was named the SEC coach of the year for outdoors. And Jordan Anthony, the the wide receiver, slash sprinter, he was named the SEC Runner of the year. He's had a really good year in the sprints for the Razorbacks. All right. We appreciate you being with us. We'll have another podcast tomorrow. We'll have plenty of content at our website this afternoon. Wholehogsports.com hope to see you there. Hope to see you on our next podcast. Have a great day, everybody.