[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Hog Sports Network daily podcast.
Now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Happy Tuesday to you. Got a lot to get to on our podcast today. Spring football begins here in Fayetteville. Razorback basketball is in Nashville already. Anthony Christensen is en route to Nashville. We'll talk to him during this podcast about tomorrow's SEC tournament opener against South Carolina. Talks from baseball at the end of the show. Razorbacks in action tonight against UCA at Baum Walker Stadium. But we start with football. Christina Long is here. Christina was at the Razorbacks practice field yesterday whenever they began spring practice and we're going to talk about that. But first, some news this morning that we reported on our website. A couple of contract extensions for Razorback football coaches, including Bobby Petrino, the offensive coordinator signed to a one year extension through the 2026 season. We knew this was coming. We'd heard that this was being worked on. Also, Deke Adams, an assistant coach, gets a contract extension to his old contract had expired in February. So we knew these were coming. All of Arkansas's assistant coaches have gotten new deals since the end of the regular season. Basically it's put everybody, Christina, on a similar employment timeline through the 26 season with the exception of the tight ends coach, Morgan Turner.
And so, you know, for years it's kind of been, you know, you might have two for one year, three for two years, four for three. I mean it was kind of. And so it feels like everything's a little bit more uniform now.
[00:01:35] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a little bit, I don't know if that's unusual across college football, but it's, I feel like it's the first time I remember in a while there being, you know, this kind of level, this level of consistency as far as when these contracts are for. And so, you know, we were, we were been waiting on the Petrino one for a while. We knew it was coming after, you know, all the other ones had happened right after the season ended and so kind of been waiting on that one. I had forgotten that Deke Adams, that his wasn't through yet either. But so both of those two get their contract extensions and we have all the details through the FOIA request that you filed. So yeah, I mean I, I think it does help having that consistency. It's funny that it's just Morgan Turner left off. I don't know if that, I don't think that like necessarily means anything. But it's just, it's just interesting that yeah, they are all on that same timeline now.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Petrino had been rumored or reported. Not just rumored. Reported by the Charlotte observer to be in talks with Charlotte for their head coaching position back in December. So anytime this, this is just my opinion. Anytime you have a. Especially a coordinator who is being, you know, pursued by somebody else, it's only a matter of time before they get a contract extension. It's just the way the game is played.
[00:02:47] Speaker C: Yeah, that's exactly. That's exactly what I was gonna say is how the game is played. And they all know that, you know, sometime have people that entertain the idea of a job just to get a contract extension, and that's another part of the game. So, yeah, I mean, this is. This is kind of just how it goes at this point.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: So Petrino under contract for two more years. Deke Adams under contract for two more years for Arkansas. Let's talk about spring ball.
Tell us, what did you see yesterday that stood out to you?
[00:03:16] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, there were a lot of things, you know, that we were excited to get a look at, mostly because of how much new there is on this team. One thing that stood out, like, just physically looking, was. And we had been told, you know, Sam Pittman had told us, like, when you see Braylon Russell, he will look different. He said, I don't know if you've seen him walking around at all, which, no, we haven't until yesterday, but that he had. He had slimmed down. So that was something that Ethan Westerman wrote in a little spring practice notebook we put together on the site yesterday.
He's listed at 612-38-So down about £15 from last year. And you can tell, I mean, like, he. He does look different. There are a couple guys that are quite large. You know, some of the freshmen Ethan noted, Caleb Bell and Kevin Otis. But, you know, Shaq McRoy, the big Oregon transfer, we knew he was big coming in. That was what stood out about him on the offensive line when he was, you know, when he committed. You know, you just looked at his numbers and it was okay. That is a large man. And then. And then you see him out there and you can tell he does stand out for sure. So a lot of that kind of stuff in terms of physical stature, things. Things standing out. But, you know, we get a look at Nick Perry, the secondary coach, you know, his interactions with players, the. The new defensive analyst and the high school coordinator, Che Hendricks was out there. So a lot of different new faces. You know, it's always funny first day of practice because you've got your roster and you've done Your best to remember everybody's numbers and there's numbers changes, but you don't remember. You don't know any of these new people's faces yet really. And so trying to. To familiarize yourself with all of these new guys on the fly. But the other thing that stood out was a lot of completions to Monte Harrison from Dayon Green, which I thought interesting. I don't know how much to read into that. You know, it's first day of spring, but. So that was interesting seeing him out there. You know, you got Bryce Stevens over at defensive back now from wide receiver. Just a couple of different things like that that were just sort of first day, right off the bat, things you notice in terms of just where people are on the field.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Stevens to defensive back is interesting to me because he barely saw the field as a receiver for, you know, most of the last two years. He had a. A game against Mississippi State and all the years kind of run together at this point. But it just. He was one that you never really. You got to the point that you didn't really expect him to be a contributor on offense. And so I don't know if it'd be a contributor on defense or not, but.
[00:05:36] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: You know, I do like to see in the spring whenever they're giving guys a chance to get on the field somewhere.
[00:05:43] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. And this is kind of the time that you. That you start to see that. And yeah, I'll be interested if they use him at all. I don't know if they will. I think some of it will depend what they do in the spring Portal. And, you know, it might be more of a depth and a practice situation, but we'll see. I mean, the other one was, you know, we talked about Shamar Easter moving to receiver from tight end, but that's another guy that I just don't know that he's going to get a chance to contribute, really. He is still at wide receiver. They had done that for the Liberty bowl and it was unclear at first if that was just for bowl practice reasons or if that was going to be a permanent move. And it is appearing to be permanent. But like I said, I don't know that he's a guy that's going to get on the field. Offensive line is another place. We're seeing a lot of position movement. You know, Carmona was inside for pretty much everything I saw practice. Yeah. So, you know, that's a, that's a change, which. That was one we knew we're told was coming.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: And there's thought that he may practice some at center this year.
[00:06:33] Speaker C: Yeah. Which I didn't see yesterday. I might have just missed it. But yeah, there is some thought there because I think center is a little bit up in the air. I. I don't know that they feel super strongly about the guys they have there. But yeah, there's been talk that he could get some. Some opportunity there, too.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: And I've heard that maybe center is his position in the NFL. And I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but we've seen some. Like Ricky Stromberg is an example or not Stromberg. Bo Limer is an example of someone. And I guess Stromberg to an extent because he did play guard and slid over to center. So, you know, there have been Travis Swanson, I think he was a guard at one point, Frank Ragnall, as I say this, I'm thinking all these guys who have gotten to the NFL at Arkansas at one point in time, they did not play center and they slid over. And so, you know, Pittman's had some success with some of these linemen putting them in the NFL as centers when they, when they didn't, you know, when they didn't start necessarily solely at that position.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: Yeah, we might have to write about that. That's a good story idea that it's a trend with Pittman offensive linemen for sure.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Just give me a credit at the bottom.
[00:07:33] Speaker C: Yeah, there you go. Matt Jones contributed this idea.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Matt Jones inspired the story.
[00:07:38] Speaker C: You inspire a lot of our stories, I feel. But yeah, so, I mean, the offensive line is one of the big things that we're. We're watching over the course of the spring. And, you know, somebody asked Coach Pittman on the first. His first availability last week, like, when do you want to actually know who's going to play where and who's going to start where? And he basically said the week before the first game, I think, is what he said, you know, right before they start. So I don't think we'll get the answer, you know, in, in spring. And I don't think what we see now is necessarily what we're going to see in September. But, you know, this is the start of the process. We will get to watch the process unfold now and in fall. And that's what we're going to see at a lot of these positions where there are questions, so.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Taylon Green and Xavian Sory both spoke with reporters before practice began yesterday.
I was struck, Christina, to hear Green talk about his exit interview with Bobby Petrino and kind of how that has led to some things that he's done here throughout the off season and leading up to the start of the spring. And this is what Taylor Greene had to say yesterday, just about taking on maybe an increased leadership role.
[00:08:42] Speaker D: I would say my confidence level is, you know, higher because, you know, it's my second year in the offense and just where I was, you know, just last year, my eyes was like, oh, with the offense and, you know, getting on the same page with, you know, Petrino and the different, you know, plays in the run game and different responsibilities I had to do. So I would say my confidence level is, you know, higher than. But, you know, at the same time, I got a lot to get better at, and that's what, you know, I'm really focused on. I'm not really content, you know, especially, you know, the year I had last year was, you know, good, but I could have done way better. And Coach Petrino is like the first one to, you know, say that that was one of our exit meetings. He was like, you could. You could do a lot better. And we know what to get better at.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: So, you know, with Green, the problem last year with him, I think was twofold.
Number one, just way too many lost yardage on the sacks. I think it was like 30 for 220 or something. I mean, it's. You think about that. That's almost 8 yards per per sack, which is a huge number. And then, you know, the other issue with him last year was ball security, whether it be the nine interceptions or he lost five fumbles, but he fumbled 12 times. And so it could have been a much worse number than that. You just think about all the games last year where it turned on a turnover. I think about the LSU game and the. The sack, the strip sack right there at the goal line that LSU had and that. That turned that game and Missouri game. There was a big fumble early in that game from Taylor that Missouri ended up scoring a touchdown. And they, you know, they barely win the game. And so it just. The ball security, I think, is where it starts for him.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: Yeah, turnovers were, I mean, across the team, one of the biggest stories of last season that shaped the outcome. But greens especially were. Were notable. And, you know, he talked about that. He said that there were kind of two areas he wanted to improve, and one of them is taking care of the ball. And he, you know, he was. He owned that. We didn't even ask him, how do you, you know, how do you cut down on the turnovers? He brought it up himself. And he talked about, you know, he said it starts with the film room and, and, you know, looking at kind of what actually happened on the play, what led him to make certain decisions, what led to those turnovers. And then he talked about, you know, something that I think would help with the turnovers was the other area that he said he wants to improve, which is some of his reads and some of his stamina in his ability to make reads, basically being able to be mentally present throughout the entire game. He mentioned, you know, there would be times when he would get tired or like whether it was toward the end of a game or after a big play and just kind of, you know, one of the first things to go would maybe be some of that, you know, mental stamina or, or presence of mind, I guess. And, you know, decision making was a concern with him sometimes last season. And that was something that led, you know, helped contribute to those big sacks. And so he talked about that being something that, that he wants to work on and, and something that he and Coach Petrino identified as, as an area that he needs to improve. So, and I thought that was really interesting. I thought he provided some really good insight into his own process, which I think is something that we don't always get from, from players is, you know, hearing, like you said, he mentioned the, the exit interview he had with Petrino. You know, he didn't give us every detail of their conversation, which is fine, but he, you know, he mentioned what they talked about. He mentioned what Petrino has said to him about what he wants to build on. And it's not just, oh, I need to, you know, be a better leader and blah, blah, blah. Like he actually told us some, some actual things that he is, you know, going to try to work on and things that we can then track as we watch them practice and as we get into the early season and see, okay, where, you know, has he actually improved that?
[00:12:06] Speaker B: I teed up that, that sound bite. Oh, yeah, I said leader. I'm just so beat down by the number of football players who talk about being better leaders.
[00:12:14] Speaker C: Well, and he does talk about that. He did talk about it.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: It's almost like it's. There are 105 better leaders on the football team.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: And I do think it's funny because you're right that they, they talk about it with everybody. I do think it matters to an extent, not to the extent I think.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: It matters with your starting quarterback.
[00:12:29] Speaker C: It absolutely does. And I think that's something that he's done really well. And he talked about how, you know, they have all these new guys on offense. And this year it's different for him leading that group in some of the, you know, the workouts they did before spring practice started that are just kind of independent player led things. And he was saying, you know, like, it tests me because I have to help these guys, you know, these new guys get up to speed on everything. I have to be, you know, the coaches aren't here. I have to be the coach telling them exactly what they need to do. So I have to. It tests my knowledge of the offense and the playbook and things like that. And so it's different for him now going into year two because he's, you know, last year he was, he was one of the new people, you know, he was coming in wide eyed and trying to learn the Petrino system on the fly and now he's able to help some of those guys do that without, you know, he's more confident in it himself.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Until you can get the latest breaking news on all razorback
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[email protected] from Spring Football you can read right now Ethan Westerman's practice report from yesterday. It's headlined Dix and sorry Duo leading linebackers and other day one notes. You can read what Christina wrote about Taylor Green. Headline Arkansas football QB Taylor Green identifies areas for improvement as 2025 spring practices start. When we come back, we're going to talk with Anthony Christensen. He's on the road to Nashville for the SEC tournament. But first, a word from our sponsors.
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[00:14:24] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They have been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional, versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can go by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at Bentonville glass.com Arkansas and South Carolina at noon tomorrow in Nashville, SEC Network is going to televise the first round of the SEC tournament. Razorbacks obviously lost to South Carolina two weeks ago, 72 to 53. But as John Calipari likes to tell you, they were literally down by 40. And what he means is 35 points in the second half of that game, obviously not a great game for Arkansas against South Carolina. We'll see how they can do in the rematch in Nashville. Anthony Christensen's on his way to Nashville right now. The basketball team got there last night. They're going to go through an open practice inside Bridgestone arena this afternoon. And Anthony and Ethan and Hank Layton, our photographer, they'll all be there to give you coverage of it at our website, Whole Hog Sports.
Anthony, you know, the little bit of a buzz here. People saw that Boogie Fland and a new Thorough were getting on the plane to Nashville with the team. I didn't really make a whole lot of that. Boogie's been traveling with the team for several weeks now. I don't think a Do Thorough is going to play at the SEC tournament.
But it's interesting the fact that, you know, the, the door hasn't been totally closed on. On either of these guys. And I don't know that I can quite understand why.
[00:16:03] Speaker E: Yeah, no, I'm. I'm. Yeah, maybe it is interesting. I wouldn't expect either of those guys to play just because there hasn't really been any indication that they, that they would.
I mean, some of that is, you know, the coaching staff wanted to keep their. Their hearts close to their chest. You always want to, you know, maybe. Maybe send some, some scouts into the wrong direction. So stuff like that. So you never want to. You never really want to close the door completely unless it's like, completely obvious that somebody's not going to come back or completely obvious that somebody is going to come back. But yeah, I, I wouldn't read too much into it. I mean, they're still on the team, right? They're still. There's still members of the team. They're. They're going to travel with the team and go and be there for their teammates and coaches and everything like that, but I wouldn't. I wouldn't read too much into that. Now if they. If for whatever reason they would be healthy and good to go, you know, obviously that gives Arkansas, you know, a lot of other. Other avenues to go. Obviously, do zero has been what he's been and has been really good for a lot of the season. And Boogie Flynn, before he went down, I Know, his, his shooting numbers weren't the most efficient, but, you know, he just adds something at that point guard spot that not a lot of teams in the country have. So that is that. But I would not be going into tomorrow's game thinking, oh, I really hope they're gonna play, because I wouldn't think that they're ready for that just yet.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: Do we know the Arkansas practice in Nashville yesterday? Is this gonna be a true practice when they go into this open practice today? And I mean, if so, is there anything you think you can glean out of watching it?
[00:17:46] Speaker E: We'll see. I know sometimes these open practices, they're a little bit more, you know, laid back, more subdued just because, I mean, they're open practices. So, I mean, pretty much anybody, I mean, it's not open to, to the public, it's open to media. And I'm sure, you know, maybe just that just like anybody associated with the sec. So maybe there'd be, you know, opposing coaches going to scout. Maybe you always want to, you never want to show too much in, in those kinds of, those kinds of events. So I wouldn't expect to be able to get too much out of it. I'm not sure that they're gonna, you know, be going down, breaking down the game plan and going note by note from the scout and just going, going over everything that, you know, they're thinking about for tomorrow. So I wouldn't expect to get too much out of it, but it'll be interesting to see just kind of, you know, what, what they do in a practice, just because we haven't had any practice availability this season. So it'd be, it'll be fun to see that for sure.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: So all SEC teams came out yesterday and today. AP came out this morning.
I voted in the AP poll and I'll tell you, I put a Dutherow on my second team. He didn't make it on the full AP second team, but I voted for him. First team AP Walter Clayton of Florida, Trey Johnson of Texas, Chaz Lanier of Tennessee, Mark Sears of Alabama and Janai Broome of Auburn. Those are the five that I put on my first team. And then on the second team you had Josh Hubbard of Mississippi State, Wade Taylor of A and M, Zakai Ziegler of Tennessee, Colin Murray Boyles of South Carolina. I voted for all four of those on the second team. The player who made it, who I didn't have on there was Mark Mitchell of Missouri. The Ford individual honors, Janai Broom as player of the Year. Bruce Pearl, Coach of the year. Trey Johnson, newcomer of the year. And that lines up with what the SEC coaches voted on yesterday. The SEC coaches had three all SEC teams and no Razorback made any of those three. So you're. Anthony, is it surprising to you that you didn't see the row or any other Razorbacks on these all SEC teams?
[00:19:47] Speaker E: I didn't think so. I wasn't really expecting to see any of them on there. I think part of it comes down to their four star zero five in the league start league play.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: But obviously the column Murray Boyles is.
[00:19:57] Speaker E: On was really big and impressive.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: But, but Murray Boyles was on the all SEC team and they went 2 and 16.
[00:20:04] Speaker E: Yes. Yeah. But Colin Murray Boyles is also a bona fide, you know, first round NBA draft pick. I guess Andy's shown that, I think, and not to say, you know, nobody not to say, you know, Duke hero hasn't, you know, earned that, which I think, you know, if he, if he decides to go into the draft, it, it could be an interesting to see, to see if, you know, if, if he can get into that first round, which I think he, I think he has all the tools. You would want to be a first round pick. I think he, you know, he's a guy who can have a long NBA career. But I do think, you know, a, you know, the injury obviously hurts him. He missed a really important stretch of the season and B columnary Boyles also did not get injured, you know, throughout the, throughout the season, which I think kind of obviously would help his case in that, in that regard. So I wasn't necessarily surprised. I, I think I would, if nothing else, I would listen to the argument to have a deuce hero on there. And I, I don't think I disagree with anybody who would put him there. And frankly, if I put up, if I put a ballot together, I, I think I would at the very least seriously consider having him on there. But I, I wasn't necessarily surprised.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: No, I just want to say this about Murray Boyles. He averaged 1.2 rebounds more than a do th row. And so take that for what it's worth. And he got to play more games. Now that works both ways. It can pull your stats down, but it can also raise your stats up. So, you know, I just, I think Theo was important to Arkansas this year. You heard Caliperi at one point say that he thought he was one of the 10 best players in the country this season. Now that might have been a little bit of an embellishment, but I think that Whenever he was on the floor, it just totally changed how Arkansas's team looked. I think it's very important to the Razorbacks and I think you'd be hard pressed to find 10 other players in the SEC that were better than to do this year. I really do. I'm not saying that you can't. I just like you. I, I think you would be, I think you'd be hard pressed to do so. This is two years in a row that Arkansas hasn't had an all SEC player. That is really surprising to me.
[00:22:07] Speaker E: Yeah, no. And you know, you could listen to the arguments for it and you know. Yeah. And last year I think it, I think it's less surprising or more surprising I should say this year than last year just because this year's team is. Obviously had some more success than last year's team though I still think you could have made an argument for Tremont Mark to make the team last year or even Caleb battle with how he came on near the end of the season and just kind of, you know those guys and then, but then this season obviously a Duthero is what he or I guess was what he was and you know, assuming and is what he is assuming he comes back. But yeah, it is, it is surprising especially when you look at just the numbers. Arkansas has always kind of had at least one guy on all conference ballots just throughout a long time.
So it is, it is surprising just, just when you look at it from that 30,000 foot angle or yeah, 30,000 foot kind of view.
And yeah, it's. But then you look at it. I, I do sympathize with the, the idea that a Duth hero should have been there. I don't necessarily, I don't, I don't disagree. If, if I had voted, I, like I said, if nothing else I would have very seriously considered having him there. But I wasn't, I was not shocked by it.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: This is the first time since 1986 and 87 that Arkansas has had back to back years without an all conference player. And to put that in perspective, again, 15 people were named all SEC yesterday at the Southwest Conference. Five. You had five players who got voted all Southwest Conference. There weren't any second or third teams. And so you know, you probably would have to go back even further if the Southwest Conference were giving out 15, you know, all SWC honors like the SEC does.
So I heard John Calipari say this yesterday on, I think it was on his TV coaches. So he has a radio coaches show and he has a TV coaches show and he made a comment that he doesn't really care for the SEC tournament, that, you know, he doesn't want his team to go there and get worn out or, you know, if they're going to go there and win, then you need to make the championship game and actually win it.
Very interesting comments. I think a lot of coaches probably privately would say the same thing. You don't get a lot of coaches who are going to say that publicly.
[00:24:40] Speaker E: Yeah, no, you're right about that. I remember I listened to a podcast with Todd golden recently where he, he talked about just how much making a run to at last season's SEC championship game just took a, took a big toll on his team. I mean, they lost Micah Hancock for the NCAA tournament and that arguably cost them that opening round game against Colorado. So it does take a toll on your, on your team. And I think a lot of, I mean, not a lot of them, but yeah, probably a lot of coaches privately will, will think that. But you know, yeah, Caliperi and Golden are really the only ones I've heard, you know, come out and say it directly. And it's not like I'm tuning into, you know, every coach's weekly coaches show by any means. So maybe, maybe more have. And I'm just ignorant to the fact but that, that's, that's kind of the, especially in these high. Major. High major leagues like Arkansas, by all intents and purposes does not need to win the SEC tournament to get into the NCAA tournament. So, you know, it's not the most important thing in the world. Whereas if you were, say Texas and you need to probably get at least a Sunday to get in or at least a Saturday to get in at a very optimistic view, then, you know, maybe this is a huge deal for you. But yeah, no, it can be aware as we saw with Florida last year and even with Auburn last year. Right. Auburn lost to Yale in the first round. So that's, that's something to, to keep in mind. But yeah, like in these power conferences, you know, the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, Big east, you know, it's not going to be the biggest deal in the world if you go and win your conference tournament. But then again, I mean, you look at UConn won its conference tournament last year and then won the national title. So I guess it kind of just depends on the way you look at it.
[00:26:28] Speaker B: And yeah, okay, so you get daily bracketology. Now. This is like taking your daily vitamin C, I guess, up until selection Sunday.
I want to mention too, because we Talk about Joel Linardi's all the time. But Jerry Palm at CBS is somebody else who, you know, has built up quite a reputation in doing this. They both have Arkansas off of the last four in line, which would keep Arkansas out of Dayton again. If they lose to South Carolina, that might change this a little bit. According to Palm, he's got Arkansas as a 10 seed play at BYU in Providence in the first round. Joel and Arty actually moved Arkansas up a spot on this last four buys, so they have moved up to the second team among the last four buys. You know, the more you move up there, I guess the, the more it helps you. And he's got Arkansas playing Michigan in Milwaukee. That would be quite the rematch.
[00:27:24] Speaker E: Yeah, I don't think, I think that might be a mistake. So if I'm, if I'm remembering the, the bracket rules correctly, I don't think you can play against a team that you, that you faced in the regular season in the first round. So maybe I'm wrong. And with the amount of teams the SEC is going to get into the field, you know, some of those rules are just going to have to go out the window just by, just by virtue of the number of teams that are going to be in. So maybe I am wrong or I've misunderstood something, but it would be a, a very fun rematch. I mean, Michigan is kind of spiraling a little bit at this time, at this moment in time. Just got blown out by Michigan State lost to, I think they also lost to Illinois as well. So there is, there is that. So. But it would be, it would be a lot of fun. I mean, that, that game at Madison Square Garden was, was awesome, not just because it was Madison Square Garden. And that's like a bucket list item to, you know, check off, cover the game there. But it was just a good basketball game, two good teams going at it and it would be, it would be a lot of fun to see that for sure. And then you mentioned Jerry Palm. I think you said, hey, Anthony, against byu.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: I got to correct myself. That's not in Providence. He's got Arkansas play BYU in Lexington. Wouldn't that be something if Cal had to go back?
[00:28:33] Speaker E: That would be very funny.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: By the way, he's got Alabama as the two seat in that scenario. So Arkansas would have to play Alabama in the second round if they advanced.
[00:28:42] Speaker E: Yes. Yeah, but I mean that byu, like these are obviously all hypothetical matchups. That BYU team is on fire right now. They're playing really well. You know, they're, they're in my AP poll.
[00:28:53] Speaker B: Finally. Yeah, finally. Right?
[00:28:56] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah. If you ask the people in my mentions, they should have been in there for, for a little while before, but.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: I just wanted to see a little.
[00:29:04] Speaker E: Bit more and they improved it. So, and, and I gave, I put them at 17 so I think that was a, that's actually where they ended up. So I think, I think I've, I've paid for my crimes.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: Anthony does not have high approval ratings right now in Utah, in Provo, no BYU fan base. So there you have it.
[00:29:21] Speaker E: I think in Logan, my, my Provo rating is probably a little higher because I voted for Utah State quite a bit early in the season.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: But yeah. So there you have it. Arkansas as of right now, according to Palm and Lenardi, not, you know, not really on the bubble. Now how much does this play a factor with the selection company? I don't know but I think it probably, I think that their thinking is usually pretty in line with how the selection committee thinks. Anthony, be safe on the way over to Nashville and we'll look forward to reading your stuff tonight@whole hogsports.com Absolutely.
[00:29:54] Speaker E: Thank you, sir. We will, we will see you there. I mean, I guess we won't see you there, but we'll talk to you there.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Yeah, we understood. Appreciate it. Anthony christensen from whole hogsports.com when we come back, Christina's going to be back here in studio with me. We'll talk about this Razorback baseball game against UCA tonight. But first, another word from our sponsors.
[00:30:12] 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 Design.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. Arkansas baseball in action tonight against UCA over at Baumwalker Stadium. It's going to be the first night outdoor game of the season for the Razorbacks. They played some night games down in Arlington, but this will be the first one here at home. It's going to be the end of a 10 game homestand, 6:00 on SEC Network. Plus Brett Dolan and Troy Eklund will be on the call on the Internet broadcast. You'll have Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter on the Razorback Sports Network. Arkansas comes into this game 15 and 1, 11 straight wins, UCA 5 and 8. A couple of losses last week to Evansville for the Bears.
You never expect Arkansas to lose a midweek game, at least not against this caliber of competition. Texas Tech comes in, maybe not against a uca. That doesn't mean it can't happen. UCA came in here last year. They gave Arkansas a scare. Arkansas won nine to seven. You see some scares on Tuesday night? Sometimes.
Usually. You know, what you're going to hear coaches say is it's about us. It's about us doing everything well. And if that happens, then everything's going to fall into place and you're going to get the type of outcome that you want. Interesting to me.
Colin Fisher is going to start this game, and it's not going to be a bullpen game tonight. Now, you might get Fisher out and it becomes, you know, this guy throws an inning and inning and inning and inning until it ends. But they want to get Colin Fisher's pitch count built up. I talked to Matt Hobbs yesterday about this. They want to get his pitch count built up because they want him to be in position to be a starting pitcher if they need him at the end of the year.
[00:32:16] Speaker C: Yeah, which. I think it's so interesting how SEC play has snuck up on me. I mean, I just.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: It does it every year.
[00:32:22] Speaker C: Like, I blinked and all of a sudden we're here and, you know, we're looking at it this weekend and I think so then I was kind of surprised to hear about the plan with Fisher because, oh, it's so early. And it's like, actually, it's really not that early anymore. And so, yeah, I mean, I think it makes sense. They. They want to be able to use him. They want to have him as kind of a backup plan for whether, if he needs to start a game either, you know, whether due to some kind of injury or in postseason play, if they need to use him as, you know, a longer starter or a long reliever, you know, So I think it makes sense, the plan with him, and I think he's showed so much potential, even from last season, and I think it says a lot that they're willing to do this with him and how strongly they feel about him.
[00:32:58] Speaker B: It's got so much poise on the pound. It really does. And that's been something that stood out to me, really, with him from day one, from the first time that he pitched, it's like, that doesn't look like a freshman pitching.
[00:33:08] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: And, you know, obviously, as he's gotten older, I think the poise and the composure has just Improved as you would think it would. And I think he's a good pitcher. I think he might be a weekend starter next year. Who knows? This year, you know, maybe. Maybe they get in trouble in the bullpen and they have to go pluck one of those starters away and say, hey, we need you back here. And maybe Fisher becomes a starter or an opener or whatever you want to call it on the weekend. We'll see. I'm not saying that that's what I think is going to happen. It's just. You never know. You never know. I mean, like, at this point in time last year, everybody thought Arkansas was going to be rolling throughout the season with Hagan Smith and Brady Tigert and Mason Molina. And it went well for about seven, eight weeks. And then all of a sudden it. When it fell apart, it fell apart fast.
[00:33:52] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And, you know, that was one of the things we talked about all in. In the lead up to this season was, okay, you lose Hagan Smith, but your staff might be better because you might have more depth. You might be in a better situation than they were in, you know, than they turned out to be in last season once it actually got going. And so I think Fisher's part of that. I think some of these bullpen guys are a large part of that. You know, you mentioned Fisher and how he does seem a lot older. Like, I just went and checked. I was like, is he a sophomore? Like, was he a freshman last year? You know, it's. It's almost hard to believe with a. Just with the talent he has and with how good he has been. And then also, like you said, kind of the. The demeanor there. So, yeah, I mean, I think the staff is in a better position right now than we would have thought about, I don't know, maybe last season. We felt so good about the starters last season, then like you said, it fell apart. But I think the. The idea with this staff is there's. There's a stronger feeling at this point.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: Should I tease what I'm working on? Baseball?
[00:34:43] Speaker C: I think so.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: Okay, so I'm working on something. Five years ago today was the last game that was played before the COVID shut down over at Bomb Walker Stadium. Arkansas beat Grand Canyon 10 to 9.
I actually had to leave that game early. Have I ever told you this story?
[00:35:00] Speaker C: I don't think so.
[00:35:01] Speaker B: I had to leave that game early. My wife was 39 weeks pregnant, and I got the call in about the sixth inning of the game and we had to go to the hospital. And it was a false Alarm. But we're in the hospital, and we're watching everything that happens in Oklahoma City. We're just kind of flipping through the channels because we're waiting for a doctor to come in. And it's like something weird's going on in this NBA game. And then all of a sudden you figure out that's the Rudy Gobert incident that really, I think, scared all of the other sports leagues into go ahead and shutting down the next day. So I'm working on something about the 2020 team, about the shutdown. I plan to have this posted either today or tomorrow on our website. Talk to a lot of people about this. This is something that's kind of. It's kind of fun to go back and look at that season, because I think whenever you have.
I think it's fair to call that a traumatic incident. I mean, Covid as a whole, a traumatic incident. Now, whether or not you want to say that the 2020 season being lost, I don't know that that rises to that occasion. But, you know, when you have a traumatic incident, it kind of causes you to just put those memories kind of to the side. Like, we're not going to go there and think about that anymore. And so it's been kind of interesting to talk to people who were around the program at that time about, you know, just kind of what are your memories about how this all went down and what were your thoughts about that 2020 team? 2020 team. You had Casey Martin a junior, Heston Kirstadt a junior, Casey Opitz a junior. They had Connor Nolan and Patrick Wicklander back from being freshman All America starters the year before. It really felt to me going into that season now, whether or not this would have materialized, I don't know. But it felt like to me, going into that season, that was a national championship, certainly an SEC championship type contending team.
They got off to a little bit of a rough start. Won seven in a row, lost five in a row. Then they ended the year with four in a row. And whether or not this was the case, I felt like when the season got shut down, they were just kind of hitting their stride. And so I've always kind of had that. What might have been with the 2020 season, what might have been with Heston Kirstad? What kind of numbers could he have put up? Could he have potentially won a Golden Spikes Award?
These are all things that'll be covered in this. It's fun to go back and look at this.
[00:37:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it's such an interesting story idea because first of all, I mean, it is crazy that it's been five years. I mean, it still feels like not that long ago for me.
[00:37:28] Speaker B: My daughter's fifth birthday is next week, so I feel it.
[00:37:31] Speaker C: Yeah, that's crazy. So, yeah, it's funny that it's been that long and that there's people on the team that were on the team then, which is crazy.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: There's one person.
[00:37:39] Speaker C: There's one. I should say people.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: There's one. We know who he is.
[00:37:42] Speaker C: There is one person.
[00:37:42] Speaker B: And honestly, you know, Will McIntyre is a great, A great kind of symbol of how college baseball changed because, number one, he's a great example of perseverance because he came back in 21, out of shape, didn't even make that team.
And so for him to, you know, rebound and do what he's done for the team in the years since then, I think is, you know, commendable. But then also just the fact that he is still here, I mean, it used to be unheard of that you would have players that would even play college baseball for six years, let alone, you know, stick around one program for that long.
[00:38:23] Speaker C: Exactly. Yeah. And I think, you know, I was thinking about that when we were talking about, you know, a guy like Fischer or some of these guys that we've seen. Seen, you know, you mentioned some other guys that you've seen sort of, you can see them go on the trajectory toward weekend starter or you can kind of see the path for them and how in college baseball at the level Arkansas is at, you don't always get to see guys, their full trajectory play out in other sports at Arkansas anyway, because Arkansas baseball is a program that people transfer to. It is not always a program that people that, you know, top talent transfers from.
[00:38:53] Speaker B: Right. People who play, they're not going to transfer away from here.
[00:38:55] Speaker C: Exactly. And you don't see that in all of Arkansas's sports. And so it's interesting with Arkansas that you can track, you know, guys that you can watch their whole career play out in a way that you can't always in some of these other sports. And so, yeah, Will McIntyre is an example of that, you know, that he stuck around, that he's still here, that he's still getting some work. You know, he's. He's such a fascinating part of this team.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: I just. I've always had this thought about the 2020 team, you know, I mean, what might have been with them. And so I'm having fun putting this story together. I worked a long time on it yesterday. I'm hoping to finish it up today and have it ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is the anniversary of when they got the call that they weren't going to Starkville, when Greg Sankey had his press conference at Bridgestone arena that said the SEC tournament is canceled. It's the anniversary of when the NCAA canceled the College World Series with three months. Like, that was always what stood out to me is, you know, it's like, how long is this going to last?
And when on March 12, the NCAA canceled an event that was scheduled for like June 14, it was like, whoa, this, this May. It was, it was eye opening. It was like, this is going to be a lot longer than I think anybody really.
[00:40:10] Speaker C: Because it was early days, we didn't think.
[00:40:12] Speaker B: Right. Because, you know, in those early days, base or the SEC shut down spring sports for like 16 days. And then the next day it was 18 days and then four days later it was for the entire spring. And so it was, it was constantly evolving there for that first week.
[00:40:26] Speaker C: Yeah, there was so little that we knew and it was. It's so interesting now to look back on how even over the next year, plus how kind of the, the idea changed and how, you know, how we thought about it changed. But yeah, those early days were so. That was what was scary about it, was that it felt like there was so much uncertainty and like, it felt like absolutely nobody knew what was going on. Like, it wasn't like we were just waiting, you know, we were waiting for someone to tell us what to do, but there was nobody who could.
[00:40:54] Speaker B: Quick personal story. I associate both of my daughters being born with Greg Sankey News because the day the first was born, it was the day that he shut down all spring sports. And the day the second was born was the day that it was announced or reported that Texas and OU were coming into the sec.
[00:41:12] Speaker C: That's so funny.
[00:41:13] Speaker B: There's.
[00:41:13] Speaker C: That should tell Greg that sometime.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: I don't think he'd care.
[00:41:16] Speaker C: I've had one pretend to. He's good at that.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: I've had one conversation with him in the press box at lsu. They put my seat next to his. He wasn't interested in talking. No, no, no. No small talk.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: You can tell when he's like in the mo. Yeah, you can tell when he's not in the mood to chat.
[00:41:31] Speaker B: He wasn't in the mood. No. Now, Bob Holt might have come up to him and gotten him to the.
[00:41:35] Speaker C: Well, that never stopped Bob with anybody.
[00:41:37] Speaker B: No, it didn't. But. No, he wasn't in the mood.
[00:41:39] Speaker C: You could have Straight up told him, I don't want to talk to you. And he would have kept going.
[00:41:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: And you would have ended up enjoying yourself.
[00:41:45] Speaker B: Probably. Probably. So. So. Okay. So anyway, we've got that coming up on our website this week. Uca, by the way, going to throw Perry Titlow tonight. He is kind of like Fisher. He's their midweek starter, although they've only played one midweek game. They had a game against Missouri State and a game against Memphis on a Tuesday canceled this year. And he's been a weekend reliever for them, too. A 715 ERA for Perry Titlow in 11 and a third innings. Again, it looks like Arkansas. If they swing the bats like they've been swinging them here lately, they're probably going to win this game pretty easily. But you just never know on a Tuesday night. I always, I always laugh whenever I'll go on these different radio interviews and like, tell me what you expect on Tuesday night. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I. It is like baseball as a sport is unpredictable, but if you really want to get unpredictable, get on a Tuesday or Wednesday midweek game. In baseball, it just.
[00:42:38] Speaker C: I always like pulling up the scoreboard for around the sec. Oh, yeah, we can be like.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: And people freak out about it.
[00:42:43] Speaker C: Yes, they do.
[00:42:44] Speaker B: You know, there was a, maybe a week or two ago several SEC teams were down and I think LSU came back from a big deficit against North Dakota State and won. I think Tennessee came back from a little bit of a deficit and won. Florida probably lost because they lose on Tuesday night. Every, every week, it feels like, I don't know that they even care about those games, A and M lost on that night anyway. And the amount of freak out that happens over one baseball game when a lot of times you're not playing your regulars, when you're using the game as a way to develop your players, the amount of freak out over that is just.
[00:43:19] Speaker C: It's because we're so used to. Yeah. With other sports, you know, one game matters a little bit more.
[00:43:23] Speaker B: People want to. People want to apply college football craziness to baseball, to everything, and you just can't do it. You just can't do it.
[00:43:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:43:33] Speaker B: I mean, and even in football you can have an off day. You know, in baseball you can have a lot of off days and that's just how it works. So don't freak out over baseball. I guess that's the closing thought here today. We appreciate you being here. We will be back with another podcast tomorrow. I guess we'll talk a little bit about Arkansas, South Carolina, although that's an early game at noon tomorrow, obviously, we'll talk Arkansas, UCA baseball and whatever else the news of the day brings. Hope we see you at our website, wholehogsports. Com, this afternoon and hope we see you tomorrow. Have a great day, everybody.
