Keys to Arkansas-Tennessee

[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: On today's show, we look a little bit more into this matchup between Arkansas, Tennessee at the Fayetteville Super Regional. I'll also tell you why I voted for Razorbacks on the All America team. And I'll give you my Dickhauser trophy ballot. That's for national player of the year. But first, a word from Kendall King. [00:00:24] 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 K Soapbox and Shop Cart. 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. [00:00:56] Speaker B: The more I think about this Arkansas, Tennessee matchup, the more it feels, and I'm not gonna say the winner here in Fayetteville wins the national championship, but I think winner here in Fayetteville is going to go to Omaha and maybe be the favorite to win the national championship. You never know what's going to happen once you get up there to the College World Series. But you look at these two rosters and you look at the prospects on these two rosters and you've got big time players on both sides. And this feels, and I mentioned this earlier, that because Tennessee struggled the way it did down the stretch, this is a matchup that you ought to be having in Omaha. But because the way they struggled down the stretch, you know, their, their seed fell to a level that it's not a matchup that's in Omaha, it's a matchup that has to happen in a super regional. But boy, it feels like this is the type of game or the type of series that you could see at the end of June at the College World Series. I mean, I think these two teams are that good. [00:01:52] Speaker C: Totally. I mean, this is such a big time matchup and it's something that it's so, it's so, so major that we're getting in the super regional. And it's, it's really exciting that we get to, to see a matchup like this. And it's, it's funny, I was watching the Tennessee Wake Forest game the other night with some family and friends and talking about, you know, with the Razorback fans in the room, you know, would you rather play Wake or would you rather play Tennessee? And it's like, if, you know, obviously you'd rather beat Tennessee to go to the. To go to Omaha. But the concern over how much more it would suck to lose to Tennessee in the super regional and, and how much. You know, there's. There is so much narrative packed one series. It's kind of crazy. [00:02:30] Speaker B: But does it matter if you lose to Tennessee or you lose to North Carolina? I mean, when you lose, I think. [00:02:35] Speaker C: It would hurt more like. I mean, I think it's interesting. [00:02:38] Speaker B: Losing to Tennessee this year would hurt more than the number one national seed losing North Carolina State and four years ago. Because that hurt a lot of people. [00:02:46] Speaker C: Maybe not. Okay, maybe not. [00:02:47] Speaker B: That team wasn't accustomed to losing. [00:02:49] Speaker C: Right. I think the context of that team, if this team lost to North Carolina State, I don't think it would feel the same as this team, like, if they were to lose to Tennessee, if that makes sense. I think the context of that, like the number one overall seed losing to literally anybody was going to be horrible. [00:03:04] Speaker B: Aside from Tony being the head coach at Tennessee, why does it matter so much? Why is it so important? [00:03:09] Speaker C: I don't think you can take Tony away from that equation. [00:03:11] Speaker B: No, you can't. Like, you can't, but. [00:03:13] Speaker C: And it's like their whole attitude, I mean, everything about them is so drenched in Tony that it's like, you just have to, like, it's just people. Can you tell I'm not like a Tony Patella fan? So I just think. I think Tony, like, you cannot remove Tony from the situation because that's, like, what informs all of it. Like, that's why this has become something. [00:03:30] Speaker B: Of a rivalry drenched in Tony. [00:03:33] Speaker C: That was maybe gross. I'm sorry. [00:03:36] Speaker B: I don't know where else to go from there. What we need to do is get Hank, our photographer, to get a picture of him, like, sweating this week, and we can use that as a catch. [00:03:45] Speaker C: Tony Vitality or if they win and he gets a Gatorade badge, tough. [00:03:50] Speaker B: I mean, I get it. I get that. But, like, nobody likes Tennessee. Nobody outside of Tennessee. Like, there's not a. You. You cannot find a fan base. I think that's out there. Vanderbilt hates these guys. Arkansas doesn't like them. LSU doesn't like them. Alabama doesn't like them. Florida, I mean, and the list goes on and on. And so I guess, you know, if Tennessee goes to the World Series, they're have to beat somebody. [00:04:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:16] Speaker B: And so I don't know that this feeling is exclusive to Arkansas. If they were to lose this series, which I don't know that. I mean, I think, Look, I Know, a lot of people are worried about. [00:04:26] Speaker C: Tennessee against them already. [00:04:28] Speaker B: They won the series again. I came out of that series back in May thinking that that was not a fluke, that Arkansas was the better team than Tennessee. Tennessee's got a heck of a lineup, and I think that part scares you. If you're an opposing, you know, pitching staff, maybe not scares, but, you know, you certainly respect the ability that they can hit. But, you know, like, Vanderbilt lost their regional last week. And I can't remember who said this might have been Gentry Estes, who's a columnist for the Tennessean, but somebody made the point that with Vanderbilt, they said after those first two games when they almost got no hit by Wright, State ended up scoring four runs late and winning, and when they Lost to Louisville 3 to 2, they said it was a reminder that that team is still in there. That team that struggled so much at the beginning of the year was still in there despite all the success that they had had late. And with Tennessee, you know, that team that can't hold baserunners is still in there. That team that hasn't fielded the ball exceptionally well is still in there. That team that has struggled with its pitching past maybe its number one starter and a couple of its top bullpen guys is still in there. And so, you know, look, they may come in here and win. I mean, that nothing's going to surprise me this weekend. If Tennessee goes two and, oh, I'm not going to be too surprised. Arkansas goes two and, oh, I'm not going to be too surprised. But I just feel like, and I've used this term so much this year, there is a completeness about this Arkansas team that maybe outside of lsu, I have not seen on other rosters this year. And so, I mean, I think Arkansas to be the favorite to win this thing. They're playing at home where they've looked like a juggernaut all year. I mean, you can, you can go back and you can look at all four of their losses this year. Think about A and M. They got Zach Root pitching on, you know, shorter rest, I guess, an A and M team that was hot. And then they. They lose in the second game. And I think that I don't know if they would have come back and won after or have it had not been for the weather delay. But I think the weather delay popped the balloon in that team. Yeah, Missouri State. They lose to Missouri State. They gave it five runs in the ninth inning. That's the only time that's happened in many, many years. Total Fluke performance. And I think part of that was they threw Will McIntyre on short rest, and they realized at that point that he needs some longer rest in between his outings. And then the other one was Tennessee. I mean, and again, Tennessee is a good team, but you got a very uncharacteristic start that night from Zach Root. You got some uncharacteristic outings from players out of the bullpen. So this team at home has been really, really good to the point that I've said this a couple of times since the bracket got announced. I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to bet against them getting to the World Series when they're, when they've got the opportunity to do it on their home field. [00:07:27] Speaker C: Yeah, if Tennessee goes to. No. Do you think it's because Tennessee's lineup, you know, Arkansas didn't get the pitching performances it needed, or is it because Arkansas's bats kind of went cold, as they've done in single games kind of throughout. [00:07:40] Speaker B: I'm interested to see what Tennessee is going to do from the starting pitching. Yeah, my expectation is that Liam Doyle would not start until game two. [00:07:47] Speaker C: Right. Because how many pitches did he throw the other day? [00:07:49] Speaker B: He threw 101 on Friday, and then he threw. Or, I'm sorry, he threw 104 on Friday and then he threw 31 on Monday. So that's 135 pitches. Basically. Let's just say he threw 135 pitches over the course of the weekend. I don't think you bring it back on Saturday. I think you give him till Sunday to be ready to pitch again. So it kind of goes back to how we talked about the regular season series. That game one performance is exceptionally important. If he doesn't throw by Zach Root, and Zach did not have a good game against Tennessee whenever they faced him earlier this year, he got off to a great start. I mean, like 31 pitches and three innings and then it was 37 pitches and he couldn't get out of the fourth. So what was the question? If Tennessee goes two and oh, I think if they go two and oh, it's because they had a really good performance against Zach Root, and they coupled that with Liam Doyle having a good, much better performance than he had here in game two. [00:08:50] Speaker C: And so who. Who do we think they would throw. [00:08:53] Speaker B: On Saturday through Phillips, Game one? Whenever they were here earlier this year, I don't know if he'd be their guy, but. Well, they threw Liam Doyle, Game one. He was the first game in the Regional. So I don't know if Phillips would be the guy. I don't know exactly how that. And look, maybe they bring Liam Doyle back. I just, I. I have a hard time believing that with somebody who throws as hard as he does that for him to throw as many pitches as he did last weekend, that he would be fresh enough to go on Saturday. You know that you see it in the big leagues. The big leaguers can do that, but the big leaguers, they've got that man strength. You know what I mean? I mean, seriously, it's like, it's. You know, they're. These guys are. Who are doing that in the big leagues, are late 20s, into their 30s. Their arms are a lot more conditioned and developed and ready to do that, I think, than college pitchers are. And. And, you know, they're trying to take care of Liam Doyle. Liam Doyle is going to be probably one of the first five guys off the board in the draft next month. And you would hate to develop a reputation as a coaching staff. And I don't. And I don't think Tennessee would do this. You know, I think, you know, Frank Anderson, their pitching coach, is. I think he's pretty respected, even though he gets a little grumpy sometimes. But another. [00:10:09] Speaker C: Again, the Tony vibes, everyone, they're all. [00:10:11] Speaker B: Over everybody telling you, Anderson, you know, he is a respected pitching coach. And I just think they're going to take care of their arms. You don't want to develop that reputation that you're overthrowing somebody trying to win a title. [00:10:23] Speaker C: Yeah, I think with Doyle, I was. I was a little. I guess I shouldn't say I was super surprised to see him the other night in that last game, but I was a little. [00:10:29] Speaker B: He wanted to go. [00:10:30] Speaker C: I know, and I know that they had. I had seen reports about that the night before that he was, like, really pushing to pitch in that game, which, I mean, great. But I was still a little bit surprised that they did that. But at the same time, your season's on the line, you got to do it. So I was. I was a little surprised to see him in that spot, but. And I was kind of wondering how it would affect what they do this weekend. [00:10:49] Speaker B: He was so efficient in that game. I mean, like, he didn't get into. [00:10:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:52] Speaker B: What. He retired seven hitters in 31 pitches. I mean, it was. It was a highly efficient outing from him. I'm sure they had a number where it was like, if you get to 40, 45, something like that, maybe 50, that we're bringing you out Right. But he just, he was extremely efficient and you never know how that's going to go for a pitcher. I mean, it's. I've seen it go both ways. I've seen it where they come out and they do that and I've seen where they come out and it ain't there for him. Yeah, so they did good. I think the key to this series is which pitching staff adjusts from the earlier meeting this year. Because you think about it, Root didn't pitch well, Doyle didn't pitch well, Wood didn't pitch well. And those are the three big names in this series. And so you know who adjusts the best. Because if Tennessee gets the Liam Doyle that they've had against other teams, it's going to be really hard for Arkansas to hit him. But we've seen Arkansas do pretty well with these left handed pitchers like this. And it's not always, you don't always see the numbers. You know, they say, like Kate Anderson, I don't know what they scored against Kate Anderson, maybe two runs, three, I can't remember. But they did a good job of getting his pitch count up and they did a good job of getting Doyle's pitch count up. And I know that this guy's not even in the same conversation, but the North Dakota State starter, I was going. [00:12:13] Speaker C: To say they did that a lot that last weekend with several, with multiple. [00:12:16] Speaker B: I mean, they got well, but, you know, he was a left hander. So it feels like with starting left handers for the most part this year, they've done a really good job of getting their pitch counts up and getting into the bullpen by say the fifth, sixth inning, if not earlier. And so I think that's a big key this week is, you know, does, does Root, does he bounce back? Does Doyle bounce back? Does Wood bounce back? If I were picking a pitcher to have a much better outing than he had in the regular season, I would say Gage Wood. I think that what I saw from him the other night was really good. And everybody says that his bullpens, last couple of weeks since that Tennessee outing have been really good. You know, he got some time to rest again and boy, he looked, he looked awfully good. If he, if he can even. I don't, I don't expect him to strike out 13 hitters, but I mean, if he can come close to replicating the, you know, the three runs, the six innings, I think you would feel really good about your chances with who you, you know, are likely to have left in the bullpen. That Night. Assuming that Zach Root isn't knocked out in the fourth inning again. [00:13:27] Speaker C: Yeah, was. Was Gage woods outing against Tennessee? Was that when we weren't 100% sure if he was still on a pitch count or not? [00:13:34] Speaker B: I think he was. I think he was on a pitch count, but I think it was a higher pitch. [00:13:37] Speaker C: Right. [00:13:38] Speaker B: I think that day they would have let him go like 75, 80 pitches if he would have been able to. In fact, I think he might have. Didn't he throw 76? [00:13:45] Speaker C: I think he did. [00:13:46] Speaker B: It was a, it was a matter of though I think there were some. Maybe they would have let him go. Maybe he hit the pitch count. I don't know. Yeah, I'm getting that game and the game the week before against LSU conflated, I think, because, you know, they were kind of similar outings, right? One, he went to one, he went three. I think he probably got to. About his pitch count against Tennessee, now that I think about it, because I think through 76 pitches, but now I think, you know, he threw 89 the other night and he could have gone back there and thrown again. It's just, you know, why do that whenever you've got a healthy lead and you've got all the guys left in the bullpen that they had left. And I think Gabe Gackles another, I mean, this is another very interesting element to this. Gackel looked, I thought, the best that he's looked all year last week against Creighton. So, you know, that's. We have a tendency to focus a lot on the starting pitchers, but Gabe Gackel is a very interesting guy because he can still give you starter innings out of the back end if you need him to. [00:14:45] Speaker C: Yeah. And I mean, I was just looking up what Gackel's line was against Tennessee because I couldn't remember exactly. And he was. It was two and two thirds with three earned runs on four hits, gave up a couple home runs. [00:14:55] Speaker B: So everybody pitched bad that weekend until Will McIntyre of all people. Will came in and shut them down. [00:15:01] Speaker C: Yeah, we were talking about it this, when we were watching them the other night, we were talking about, you know, what it might look like this weekend as far, you know, how the bullpen might do because like you said, not a lot of people pitch that well. And it was like, what if Will does it again? What if they need Will and he does it again. I'm telling you, there's so many narratives that can happen in this. [00:15:18] Speaker B: Bubba made a great point after that series. He said that Tennessee's Aggressiveness at the plate and the off speed pitch that Will has just seemed to be like the perfect match for the Razorbacks. [00:15:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Because like they hadn't even come close to cooling off the entire two and a half games or whatever up until that point. And I mean, it was like they used to call the, the reliever that could come in and they called him the fireman. He put out the fire. I mean, he put out the fire. Will did in that game. And I don't know if he can do it a second time, because that. [00:15:56] Speaker C: Was one thing I was gonna ask you is, you know, is that the kind of thing where if they see him again, they would kind of know what to expect? Like, is that just something that you just, you got that magic. [00:16:04] Speaker B: I think there's something to that. [00:16:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:05] Speaker B: I think there's something to that. [00:16:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:08] Speaker B: But again, I think this whole series can come down to adjustments. [00:16:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:14] Speaker B: Adjustments at the plate and certainly adjustments within your pitching staff. You know, they were hunting Liam Doyle's fastball down in the zone. They were laying off his pitch up high. And you know, a lot of this has to do too. With what umpire do you get? You know, is the umpire giving you that high strike? Because if he's not giving you that high strike, then you're going to have to adjust your, your pitch location. And they weren't, they weren't giving Doyle that high strike in that game that he pitched here earlier this season. And so baseball is such a fun game because there are so many different little elements that feed into how a game might go. You know, the guy behind the plate, the everything. And. But you know, like with Doyle, they're able to lay off that high pitch, the guy on the low pitch, the low fastball, and they hammered that thing all night long. And so, you know, can he adjust or do they come in thinking that he might like. Have they seen something from him in his last two outings that may be a little bit different than what they had seen from him in his outings coming in? I don't know. But again, I don't think he's going to be the Game 1 starter. Game 1, Game 1 in a Super regional feels so important, you know, and we mentioned the NC State series earlier. Arkansas won that one. They won so handily that everybody thought that, that, you know, it was a shoo in that they were going to Omaha. But for the most part, in my experience, the team that wins game one typically wins the super regional because you're able to play a little bit looser than the team that loses game one. Because at that point, and especially in game two, they're playing with a real urgency and you know, that can, that can have an effect on a team. [00:17:58] Speaker C: Yeah, I think I, I worry if Arkansas doesn't win game one. [00:18:02] Speaker B: Well, they didn't win game one in the regular season series and they still won the. [00:18:06] Speaker C: That's true. [00:18:06] Speaker B: Won the series. [00:18:07] Speaker C: That's true. We, when we were talking, I keep mentioning, when we were all watching the game together the other night, but Corey, my boyfriend, was talking about, somebody was trying to talk about how. I just, I've seen this film before, Tennessee. It's going to be Tennessee that keeps Arkansas from Omaha. And Corey was like, Tony Vitalo is. What is he, 2 and 11 against David Horn. And he just kept saying he's like 2 and 11. It's 2 11. I bet it keeps him up at night. 2 and 11. [00:18:27] Speaker B: That'll. I think that'll change at some point. Yeah, I think it will. I don't know that it will, but yeah. I mean, Arkansas, they've, they have controlled this series in a way that has frankly been a little bit surprising because nobody else has beaten, I don't think anybody else has beaten Tennessee with the regularity that Arkansas has over the last, what, five years? [00:18:47] Speaker C: Right. Which is another reason why I think it would hurt so much more for 10. If it's 10, you know, for Tennessee to be the ones that keep them from Omaha. I think there's a lot of contributing factors to bring it back to my. [00:18:58] Speaker B: First point going back, kind of looking at Arkansas and the super regionals in the past, talking about game one. Let's think about this. Oh, two. Clemson won game one. They won the Super 04. Arkansas won game one over Florida State and Arkansas won the Super Regional 09. They swept Florida State. 2010, Arizona State swept Arkansas. So right there you're four and oh, your game one winner goes on to win the Super 2012. Baylor won game one and Arkansas won the Super. [00:19:25] Speaker C: Was that here? [00:19:25] Speaker B: That was in Waco. Hottest games I have ever gone to in my life. Imagine that you take your face and you wrap it in Saran Wrap and then stick your head in the oven. And that's what it felt like in Waco that weekend. I mean, I, I looked at the, I looked in front of me at the end and I had like seven Powerade bottles because I was throwing about one back and inning trying to stay high or you know, Powerade and water, but like just trying to stay hydrated because I legitimately think it was about 100 degrees at game time. And then you get the Central Texas humidity on top of that. Yeah, I mean those were without a doubt the hottest games that I have ever gone to. [00:20:06] Speaker C: I had, I covered the Norman super regional in softball when Clemson was there, what, two years ago, I guess. And that was all they don't really have. There was no room in the press box. So we were just at tables on the concourse. Not on the conc. The concourse is not in the shape. And my laptop kept overheating and I couldn't work, it would shut down. So I would go back and I would set it up on a trash can in the shade and wait for it to come back to life, try to get some work done, go back, watch the rest of the game, wait for it to overheat again, go back to the trash can. It was crazy. [00:20:33] Speaker B: We had someone covering a super regional at Norman many years ago and someone the they had gone there with overheated and passed out. [00:20:42] Speaker C: Oh my gosh. [00:20:43] Speaker B: I mean it's. Yeah, like you said, there's not a lot of shade there. [00:20:45] Speaker C: There's like none. [00:20:46] Speaker B: I think they had run low on some water that day. That's it. Just. Yeah, that was a bad situation. Okay, so 2012 at Waco got me off on a. [00:20:55] Speaker C: Sorry. [00:20:56] Speaker B: 15. That was a hot one too. Missouri State when they were here, but Arkansas won game one. So there you're. You're five and one at that point. 18 South Carolina, Arkansas one, game one. 19 Ole Miss, Arkansas won game one. Moving on here you've got 21, Arkansas one, game one, lost the Super. And then in 22 Arkansas swept North Carolina. So two times in an Arkansas Super Regional, did the game one winner not win the entire super. Yeah, and I saw a stat too yesterday from the ncaa. What would you be like? I think game one, if Doyle doesn't go for Tennessee, I would think that that benefits Arkansas. [00:21:33] Speaker C: I'm worried about Roots. [00:21:35] Speaker B: Why? [00:21:35] Speaker C: Because I feel like, I don't know, maybe it's. I'm too affected by his late season. [00:21:42] Speaker B: Do you know what I've noticed from Root? It seems like whenever he has a good outing, he backs it up with another good one. [00:21:48] Speaker C: Really? [00:21:49] Speaker B: Because I think his best outings this year, remember he pitched, he pitched a complete game against South Carolina because it was a seven inning game. And then he follows that up with seven and two thirds against Vanderbilt shut him out. And then you think about earlier in May, Texas threw eight shutout innings and had the 11 strikeouts. And then the next week he went to LSU and he was really good that night against LSU. So that's kind of been the pattern for him is that he will have good back to back outings and then he hasn't been able to put together that third outing in a row. And so maybe that's the, you know, maybe that's the next step for him is if they can get past Tennessee and they get to Omaha, can he put together three in a row that. [00:22:31] Speaker C: Are good outings, Right? Yeah. My worry is the consistency and, you know, he's got to go. They got to get more than, you know, four. It's. I'm just worried and I don't know, I was worried about him last weekend and there he was, you know, and when he's on, they'll be great. But I just, I don't know. [00:22:47] Speaker B: You worry too much. [00:22:48] Speaker C: I do. In general. You worry too much in life. Yes, I'm one to talk. [00:22:53] Speaker B: I do worry a lot, but not so much about baseball. It's more about kids and mowing the yard and things like that. I got my yard mode yesterday. [00:23:00] Speaker C: Yesterday. Good, good. Gotta get before the rain. [00:23:02] Speaker B: That, that just a quick aside. This isn't about sports at all. There's no better feeling than. It's almost like you have beaten mother Nature when you get out and you mow the yard before it rains and you finished about an hour before the rain comes. [00:23:18] Speaker C: Like, that's so funny. That's hilarious. [00:23:20] Speaker B: I saw a stat yesterday that the home team at the super regional WINS, I think, 69% of the time. Wow. They win the series 69% of the time. So there's that too, going into this week. [00:23:35] Speaker C: Well, that is something. [00:23:37] Speaker B: All right, when we come back, I'm going to talk about this All America ballot that I turned in. I'll tell you why I voted for some of the Razorbacks that I did. Also the Dick Houser trophy. For those who don't know, the Dick Hauser trophy is the other national player of the year award. Of course, the Golden Spikes is the one that gets talked a lot about. But I'll tell you why I turned in the ballot that I did for the Dick Hauser trophy. First, another word from Kendall King. [00:23:59] 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. [00:24:31] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. I want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They're committed, professional and versatile and they've been serving their community since 1971. 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 come by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com I'm gonna tell you too. You can get the latest breaking news on all Razorback sports@whole hogsports.com we'll send up source for all Arkansas sports analysis, latest in recruiting, unique stories on all your favorite teams. You can subscribe today@whole hogsports.com I'm Christina, who is our managing editor of our magazine A minute here. Tell everybody about the new football preview issue that has just come out. [00:25:14] Speaker C: Yeah, we just released our 2025 football preview. I'm super excited. It's probably my favorite cover. We've made it since I've since I've been here just because we got to do kind of a unique photo shoot. It's Taylor Green's on the COVID It's a really nice cover. You can see it on our website whole hog sports.com I posted a story on our site yesterday, kind of sharing what's in there. So we have kind of the usual stuff which something that Clay Henry always did with the magazine was talking to the coaches. He used to do it with the coordinators. Now we do it with Sam Pittman talking to them about all of the key players on the roster. So pretty much everybody that you're going to see on the field consistently. Sam Pittman gave us kind of some thoughts, some analysis on them and so we've got that going through the whole roster. We've got analysis of all the opponents on Arkansas schedule, you know some of the strengths and weaknesses to watch for with them, some players to know breakdowns of every position in addition to what Sam Pittman said, kind of looking at the context of kind of what's going on in each position. I think it's really helpful for a year like this and like last year where there's so many new players and you're kind of trying to figure out the what's going on. If you're trying to get up to speed on all of this new post spring and pre fall camp, I think it's really helpful for that. So Ethan Westerman did a story with Taylor Green, kind of talking to him about, you know, this is his last year of college football. He, you know, what does he need to. Where does he need to be better? And also, how does he kind of manage, you know, what. How. Does. What does. Year two look like versus Year one and talk to him. Kind of got to know him a little bit, too. They kind of just had a casual conversation, which was really nice. So we're really excited about it. We've got a story on our website, like I said, wholehogsports.com that you can find details on where to order it. Shop.nwaonline.com is probably the easiest if you want to just go directly to order a copy. We've got plenty available. It's. It's the last issue. We'll have until the week one football issue. We won't do a July issue this year, so this one will be available all summer. And like I said, I think it's a really good way to get up to speed. It's something that I refer. Last year, I referred back to our preview issue a lot during the season to kind of see. See what it was looking like preseason versus what we actually saw. So I think it's super helpful, and I think it looks really good. I'm really excited about the design. I think it. I think it looks great. So hopefully everybody is able to get some and enjoy them. [00:27:26] Speaker B: I can't remember when it was. There was a point last year during the football season was like, I know I have written and. Or read this. [00:27:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:33] Speaker B: Somewhere. And it turned out that it was in the football preview. I can't tell you what it was. I would say I've slept since then, but I don't know that I have. That's true. But. But no, that's always a good. It's 80 pages, right? [00:27:45] Speaker C: Yeah. So double the size of our usual magazine. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's. It's a. It's a hefty magazine. She mentioned shop.nwaonline.com you can also call here at our office. 8007-5762-7780-0757-6277, and order a copy of that magazine. You ready for football? Ethan and I had this conversation yesterday. No, I'm not. [00:28:08] Speaker C: I know you're not. You never are. [00:28:10] Speaker B: I know. I love football. [00:28:11] Speaker C: Do you? [00:28:12] Speaker B: I know I do. Football is. Football is probably my favorite sport. It's just the summer is never long enough. [00:28:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, yeah. [00:28:19] Speaker B: That's so. That's that's my deal. [00:28:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:22] Speaker B: I need a longer. I need football to, like, kick off in October. I'll be. I'll be gung. [00:28:26] Speaker C: I'm ready to have, like, real football to talk about, to have games to talk about. A lot. You know, we've talked a lot about how spring practice is hard. You know, it's hard to. How much can you really take away? You know, and fall camp is kind of. That we see even less of practice in fall than we do in spring. And so it's like, what can I. How, you know, what can I really learn outside of those first couple weeks, maybe? So I'm excited to have real games to talk about. [00:28:46] Speaker B: Can we petition for football to start in October? [00:28:50] Speaker C: I would be okay with that. [00:28:51] Speaker B: I mean, it would be a lot. Lot cooler. [00:28:53] Speaker C: That's true. [00:28:54] Speaker B: Be a lot. [00:28:55] Speaker C: I started. I booked all my travel yesterday for all our. All the games. So I was getting kind of excited yesterday. [00:28:59] Speaker B: I was looking at the kickoff times for those first two games. They'll play Alabama A&M at 3:15 on August 30th. [00:29:05] Speaker C: Extremely hot. [00:29:06] Speaker B: And they'll play Arkansas State at 4pm on September 6th. [00:29:10] Speaker C: Extremely hot. [00:29:11] Speaker B: @ War Memorial. Yeah. [00:29:13] Speaker C: Are we going to have another water problem at War Memorial? [00:29:15] Speaker B: Well, it seems like it's one every year. [00:29:17] Speaker C: It's going to be a problem. [00:29:17] Speaker B: I mean, hadn't there been, like, a water issue there? [00:29:20] Speaker C: Plumbing issue. And then there was the year that, like, fans couldn't get water. Right. Like, they didn't have water. [00:29:24] Speaker B: That's Western Carolina. [00:29:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:26] Speaker B: And so that they were leaving in, like, the second quarter because some of the concession stands didn't have water. [00:29:30] Speaker C: And, like, you can't have that for this. I mean, it's gonna be so hot. But yeah, then there's always, like, a plumbing problem, too. [00:29:36] Speaker B: There's. There's always an issue. It feels like it last year when the AC out. Last year. [00:29:40] Speaker C: I think so. [00:29:41] Speaker B: I think the AC was out in the press box last year. [00:29:43] Speaker C: Yeah. Well. And the. And we. And the bathroom didn't work. [00:29:46] Speaker B: See, we don't even talk about the clock. Like, there's so many other things that have. [00:29:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:49] Speaker B: Shut down now that you don't talk about the War Memorial clock. You see, Frank Ragnar is retiring. [00:29:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:54] Speaker B: We didn't talk about this yesterday, but Frank Ragnall raised back. Great. This one. This is kind of a reminder that you never know what's going on in somebody's life. Because from. I mean, if you just look at this from strictly performance, you would think that Frank Ragnall is going to play for several more. I mean, he is literally in my estimation one of the top two or three centers in the NFL right now. And you would think that, you know, he just play until, you know, he can't play anymore. And maybe he's at that point at 29 years old. I mean, he's dealt with a lot of injuries. Yeah, he's had some toe stuff, he had a throat injury. He's had some, some bizarre, honestly, some injuries that you just don't see, you know, maybe with, with a lot of players at that position that he's had to deal with. So he's hanging it up after seven years. It was surprising just because I think he is so respected in the NFL and I think he's one of the best players at his position. You just don't see guys go out at the top, right, or like go out when they are at the top very often. Reminds me a little bit of like what Barry Sanders did in Detroit, honestly. [00:31:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it is kind of unique because a lot of times you'll see guys kind of maybe overstay a little bit and kind of go out, you know, after they've sort of declined some and that's just not the case for him. But I mean, you know, he's, he's got plenty of money. He's decided it's the right thing to do for him. You know, he was one of my favorite Razorbacks, you know, growing up and you know, when I was younger and so it's, we've always loved following his pro career and you know, when he became what, the highest paid center for time there and you know, it was exciting for him, you know, to see an Arkansas guy have that much success. But yeah, I mean it was surprising. But you know, like you said, you never know what's going on and you know, whatever he decides is, is right for him. [00:31:42] Speaker B: Jason Peters is going to be Arkansas's next Pro Football hall of Famer. I thought Frank had the best chance after him. I mean, yeah, think about seven years, four Pro Bowls. You think about how dominant Detroit is in this era of the NFL and you know, maybe they win a Super bowl within the next two or three years. You know, I just thought that he had, he had the first half of a career or what I thought was going to be the first half of his career, assuming that he went double digit years, that he could potentially be in line to, you know, be a Hall of Famer one day. I wonder if there are going to be more players that Are like him, though, who say, you know what, I got that second contract and I've made enough money. And you know, and maybe they start bowing out in their late 20s and early 30s, as opposed to trying to stay into their mid to late 30s in the NFL or their 50s in Tom Brady's case. But you know, like, do they start getting. Did they start getting out earlier? And I wonder. The second part of that is I wonder how that might affect the viewing at the Pro Football hall of fame in 20 to 25 years where they have to start looking at players careers through a different lens than maybe they have in all the years up to this point. [00:33:02] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a good point. I do think, just my gut instinct on kind of if guys are going to retire earlier, I think it'll depend heavily on the position. I think offensive line, maybe you would see it more. I think some of the, you know, the sexier positions you, you might. [00:33:15] Speaker B: You don't think offensive line is sexy, personally? Have you not seen their bellies? [00:33:23] Speaker C: I'm gonna not answer that. So I think. But I'm talking about, you know, taking the bait. Yeah, but I'm talking about, you know, guys that don't get the same level of recognition, you know, from, from a casual fan, you know, the. And, and every football player takes a beating, right? Except maybe like a kicker. But offensive linemen in particular, you're. You're really, you know, like, that's so hard on your body. And I think when it's not as, you know, glorious, maybe as being a wide receiver, you know, I do think maybe you would see some younger offensive lineman. I think that there's going to be a lot of, you know, some of the, you know, I think you're still going to see quarterbacks, receivers, you know, some of the, like I said, the sexy positions are. I don't think you're going to see them kind of bow out as early consistently. [00:34:05] Speaker B: All I know is the offensive lineman get to sit at the front of the plane where you got more leg room. [00:34:09] Speaker C: That's true. That's a perk. How could you possibly give that up? Well, you have enough money to buy first class. [00:34:14] Speaker B: I'm just saying, like, I think it is one of the better positions in. [00:34:18] Speaker C: I don't think it's like a bad, like, I don't think they're like not worth anything or whatever. That's not what I'm saying. [00:34:22] Speaker B: I mean like, called them unattractive. [00:34:25] Speaker C: I'm not commenting on the attractiveness of anyone. I think as far as you know, like I said, like, kind of the. The glamour of it, you know what I'm saying? I think. I think guys that are drawn to that are going to keep playing as long as they can get that. And offensive linemen only get that to a certain degree, you know, and it's the same thing with, like, you know, to a certain degree, you know, a defensive tackle is not always, you know, it's. It's not just offensive lineman. I'm not picking on them. [00:34:52] Speaker B: I was just. I was giving you as much rope as you wanted. The. You know, I think it's interesting that this happened two weeks after the tush push was. [00:35:02] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, that is interesting. [00:35:03] Speaker B: Maybe I don't want any more of this tush push stuff. I'm going to get out now. [00:35:06] Speaker C: Coaches in college are retiring because of nil players are retiring because of the Dutch punch. [00:35:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Hey, I think Frank. I love covering Frank. I did a lot more football stuff whenever he played here. And, you know, we talked to him quite a bit and he was real good. Real good to us. You know, just. Just a genuine down to earth. Sometimes they try to, like, suck all the personality out of football players. [00:35:31] Speaker C: Well, and it's always an offensive lineman. There's always one. Yeah, that's like the. The charisma guy that comes into the. [00:35:36] Speaker B: Media room all the time. Like, like it didn't matter, like, because the coaches will tell him, don't say this, or, you know, sometimes even the. The media relations people will coach them on what. And what not to say. And just. He never lost his charisma whenever he was here. And. And I always appreciated that. And those are the people that you're always drawn to because it's like, hey, you know, I mean, give me a good quote. Give me a good sound bite. Yeah, don't give me the. You know. Yeah, sometimes that happens. I felt like I saw some of that during the. The regionals too. Not. Not necessarily. I'm not talking about any place in particular. Just in watching some of the press conferences around the country, you could tell some of the players had just been coached not to say the wrong thing. Yeah, it was not that case at Tennessee. Yeah, they gave. They. They spoke their mind after the Wake Forest the other day. [00:36:27] Speaker C: Tony's. Tony's everywhere. [00:36:28] Speaker B: Tony's on all of them, drenched in Tony. The. So my All America ballot was. And it's for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. So it's an interesting way that they require you to vote for all Americans. You actually have to vote for five at Every position. And that makes it kind of difficult. Like there's some positions like shortstop where this was not hard at all. I mean, shortstop, you got Vejivo Aloy, you've got Ieva Arquette at Oregon State, Rock Cholowski at ucla, Alex Lodis at Florida State. And then you have to decide, I thought between, I forget his first name all of a sudden, Kylo dies at Georgia Tech, who's Alex's cousin, or Justin LeBron at Alabama. So I thought like a position at like shortstop. That was a no brainer. Like that's easy. The only hard part is how do you whittle six players down to five? Some of the other positions are more difficult to come up with. But I ended up putting, I didn't even count this up. Let's see here. I've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I've got five Arkansas players on my All America ballot. And keep in mind, I mean, we're talking about probably close to 100 players here that, you know, probably close, maybe closer to 70 players. So they have to go on this All America about. I got five and I mentioned, I put Vaheva on there, I put Charles Davlin on there. You gotta have eight outfielders. I mean, find me seven or find me eight outfielders better than him. I, I don't, I don't think you can find it. This year. I have kahil alloy at DH. I think the 70 RBI or 69 RBI that he has are really impressive. I mean, he led the sec, may still be leading the sec, I think in RBI this year I put Parker Coyle as a relief pitcher. Now he wasn't on the ballot that was sent to us. And I don't know if they're going to accept the write in or not, but they got it. I've said this a couple of times. Look at Dylan Volantis's numbers at Texas. Look at Parker Coyle's numbers at Arkansas. You put them side by side. I think Parker's are as impressive. The only difference is he didn't get as many appearances because he missed about six weeks with, with a back injury. But you know, I mean, look what he did against North Dakota State the other day. Look at what he did when he came in against LSU in a leverage situation his first time pitching in like a month and a half. And what he did in that game. So I had him on there and then I put Cam Kozel on here at first base. I don't know that I would have put him at second base, but he was actually listed on the ballot that we got as a first baseman. And I think it's because when the nominations were turned in, he was still playing first base for Arkansas before Gabe Frazier had gotten injured. So first base was one of those positions where I actually had a little bit of trouble finding five that I thought, you know, were. It was, maybe put it this way, it was tougher finding five at first base than it was at some other positions. I think Andrew Fisher is a no brainer there from Tennessee. Jarrett Jones is a no brainer there from LSU. But I put Kozil at first base for Arkansas. He's got like 65, 66 RBI this year. He had more RBI in SEC play than any other player in the league. That's impressive to me. Yeah, like Cahill had the most RBI or the second most RBI in the SEC overall this year. Cam had the most RBI in conference only games. And I think that's really impressive given the type of pitching that they were, you know, facing on a fairly routine basis. And you know, I'll be frank, what he did in the regional. Yeah, like that helped put it over the top. [00:40:09] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:40:10] Speaker B: So I've got Camp Koswal on my. [00:40:12] Speaker C: I was kind of surprised he didn't get regional mvp. That's who I voted for. [00:40:15] Speaker B: I voted for Ryder. [00:40:16] Speaker C: Okay. I was between the two, but I went Koshal. [00:40:19] Speaker B: Here's why I went with Ryder is because not only did he do what he did at the plate, but think about what Arkansas did. Pitching. [00:40:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:25] Speaker B: And he's calling all the pitches. Yeah. So that's why I went with him. [00:40:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:30] Speaker B: As the, as the regional mvp. It was kind of, it was unfortunate that Gabe Gackel didn't get on the all region team, but it was because they passed the ballots out. [00:40:39] Speaker C: Well, I put them on mine. [00:40:40] Speaker B: I put them on my. I didn't have him on there first. [00:40:41] Speaker C: I was afraid he was going to do something crazy in the last inning, but I put him on mine. [00:40:44] Speaker B: I didn't put him on there at first, but then right before they took mine, I, yeah. Scratched somebody out, wrote his name in real fast and gave it to him. Yeah, that's, that's the thing about some of these. Like we vote for the Crip hall award on homecoming at football, but they take the ballots up at the third quarter. So what happens if a senior scores two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and maybe it's one of them's a game winning touchdown? [00:41:04] Speaker C: It's tough. [00:41:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So that's a little bit of inside baseball. [00:41:09] Speaker C: There. [00:41:09] Speaker B: Okay, so the Dick Hauser Trophy. This is the All America Player of the Year or not the All American. The player of the year given by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers association sometimes, a lot of times the Dickhauser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award. The Golden Spikes is presented by USA Baseball. Sometimes it's the same player, sometimes it is not. Last year it was with Charlie Condon. The year before that, Paul Skeens won the Golden Spikes and Dylan Cruz won the Dick Houser. And there have been actually a number of years where it has split, you know, one one votes one way, one votes the other. So here's what I put. You gotta. You gotta turn in eight players for the Dickhauser Trophy. And then you rank them so you know whoever's number one, that when they count the ballots, that person will get eight votes. Whoever's number eight will get one vote and so on. This was the ballot I turned in. I got Iva Arquette at Oregon State, number eight, shortstop Liam Doyle, the pitcher from Tennessee. I've got him at number seven on my ballot. Mason Neville, the outfielder from Oregon, used to be a Razorback, lead the country and home runs. This year I've got him at number six. I thought Ike Irish at Auburn was phenomenal. This year I've got him at number five. I've got Kate Anderson of lsu, the pitcher at number four. Part of this probably is influenced a little bit by how they pitched when I watched him in person or live. Like, not only did I see Kate Anderson pitch against Arkansas in Baton Rouge, I also also saw him pitch against A and M at Hoover. And he was really, really good that night. So I put him over Doyle. I thought that this was not as strong of a year for pitchers in the national player of the year conversation as it has been in some other years. And then the top three are shortstops, but Alex Lodis from Florida State at number three. And I went with Beheva over Rock Cholowski. I struggled with that one. I went back and forth, I looked at their numbers. What really stands out to me is that he would did it in the SEC and he had really strong numbers in conference only play. And you can say the SEC didn't do well in regionals and maybe the league was overhyped and overinflated. I don't believe that at all. I just think it was a bad weekend for some teams in the regional play. So I went viva number one. You know, I mean, I don't always go with a Razorback number one. I went with Condon last year over Hagen Smith, and I struggled with that one, too. But. But I thought Condon, especially down the stretch, when it came time to turn this in, I thought he had played, he had outplayed Hagan at that point. So I. I don't think there's a wrong answer between 1, 2, and 3 on this list. And some people might say that Liam Doyle should be in the top three. And I. I mean, I. I don't know that. I can't argue against that. I just go by what I saw whenever I was, you know, watching him live and in person and in the games that I watched on television with him. But this is a really strong year for shortstops in college baseball. When you've got Ieva Arquette kind of sitting out here outside looking at. He's really good, but you got him looking at Alex Lodis, and you've got him looking at Rock Chalowski at UCLA and Vijivo Aloy at Arkansas. I think a shortstop is going to win this award. I just don't know which one it's going to be. I could see it being. I think it's probably unlikely that Viva wins it because his numbers are not as strong. And so if you are just looking at numbers, and I think you would probably go with Cholowski or Lodi's, but I think it'll be one of those three shortstops that wins the National Player of the Year. [00:44:49] Speaker C: Yeah. I was going to say, how many people. Do we know how many people vote on this? I don't know how many members there are. [00:44:54] Speaker B: I don't know. I mean, I think it's a good number of people. I think it's. It's. If it's not 100, it's close. And it may be more than 100, it may be in the hundreds. [00:45:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:45:05] Speaker B: But. But I think there's a good bit of people who are in this organization. How many of them actually turn in a vote? I don't know. Yeah, you know, like with the Heisman, if you don't turn in a Heisman. [00:45:15] Speaker C: Vote, they're going to take you off. [00:45:17] Speaker B: They are going to take your vote away. [00:45:18] Speaker C: I mean, they're just kind of crazy because there's so many people that vote for that. Like, it's a pretty low. Over a thousand entry. [00:45:24] Speaker B: Yeah, over a thousand. But, yeah, you know, I mean, it's. You don't vote. You don't vote in the Heisman. You don't vote. You know, I think you get one strike. [00:45:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:45:34] Speaker B: And then, you know, the Second strike, you're gone. Yeah, but this. I don't know how many people voted, and I don't think this is. This isn't like a requirement of membership that you vote for the All America, but you do have that. That option because. [00:45:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I was just. I'd be interested how many. You know, you said you've got three shortstops at the top. I'd be interested. How many of those guys you know are other people have as top three? Like, is every. You know, is. Are a lot of people's top three going to be those three guys in a different order? Or will. Like you said, there might be. Doyle might be up. [00:46:02] Speaker B: I can see Doyle up there. Yeah. Mason Neville. [00:46:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:46:06] Speaker B: I think Mason deville's home run numbers are going to make him a prime candidate to be in the National Player of the Year race. I think the fact that he didn't have a great regional. [00:46:17] Speaker C: Yeah. I was going to say, how much does. How much do. I mean, you know, obviously you can't speak for all the voters, but different voters do it differently. But how much do you weigh. You know, do you decide to weigh the postseason and, you know, like we talk about with the Heisman, do you just go with, like, the best player on the best team or do you do something else? [00:46:33] Speaker B: I think the postseason, it has an effect. I mean, think about the Heisman. You turn in the Heisman the Monday after the conference championship games. You can turn it in before the conference championship games if you want to. I think that that's not smart. I think that you should watch every game that's available to you and then make a decision. And I would even take it a step further. I think the Heisman ought to be presented after the playoff is over and, you know, have. Have the playoff and the bowl games as data points to your Heisman candidates. [00:47:01] Speaker C: Data points in anything. Ball games are. [00:47:03] Speaker B: Well, I mean, a lot of the. If you're a Heisman candidate and most of the time. Because if you're a Heisman candidate, you're probably going to be a big draft prospect. [00:47:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:47:14] Speaker B: So if you're a Heisman candidate and you're not in the playoff, you're probably. [00:47:17] Speaker C: Not playing in the play, which is why I would worry that the Heisman would then only go to guys on playoff teams. [00:47:21] Speaker B: I mean, that's kind of how it does now, though, right? [00:47:23] Speaker C: That's true, but I think Travis Hunter wasn't. Yeah, that. [00:47:27] Speaker B: That's. I mean, it's funny you talk about this. My son and I, we were talking on the way in here this morning, like, like who all has won the Heisman? And it was, I mean, you start with like Baker Mayfield, I think that was a playoff team. Kyler Murray, that was a playoff team. Joe Burrow, that was the national champion. Devontae Smith, that was a playoff team. Bryce Young, was he a playoff team? If he wasn't, I mean, it was Alabama. They were in the conversation, if nothing else, you know, Jalen Daniels, lsu, he wasn't in the playoffs, but they were part of the conversation up until I think the last couple of weeks of the season. So. [00:48:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I just would worry that it would. I mean, you're right though, it's. That might not be a good point if it's already kind of happening that way. But anyway, as far as the baseball one goes, I'd be interested how much different voters kind of weigh postseason. [00:48:16] Speaker B: I don't think is going to win player of the year. I really don't. But again, I'm influenced by what I see every day. [00:48:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:48:23] Speaker B: And I see a really great player every, you know, almost every day on the field. He's. You think even the Creighton game, I think it was the night that he hit two home runs. Wasn't that the night he got thrown out at third base to start the game? [00:48:37] Speaker C: I think so. [00:48:38] Speaker B: I mean he doesn't, he doesn't let the effect. He doesn't like, he doesn't let the mistakes affect him later in the game. [00:48:44] Speaker C: Talked about that. He's talked about how he doesn't bring whatever's happening at the plate into the field. That's part of what allows to him, him to be so good as one stop. [00:48:50] Speaker B: I mean he's, I guess I think he's phenomenal. I think he's going to be a first round draft pick. I think he's an outstanding player and I'm definitely, you can call it bias if you want to, that we all have our biases. This is not because he's a Razorback. This is because I watch him play with regularity and I am, I am constantly impressed with what I see from him. So that's Heva Loy. He got my number one vote for the Dick Houser trophy. After a lot of consideration, I can promise you this, this is something I've been wrestling with for about two weeks. How was I going to put these, these players in order? We appreciate you being here. We hope we see you at our website, WholeHogsports.com we continue to move forward toward the super regional against Tennessee later this week. There's going to be a media day Friday at Bomb Walker Stadium where we're able to talk to the coaches and players from both teams. We'll have content at our site before then as well. Bubba Carpenter is going to be back here in studio tomorrow to help us preview this super regional between the Razorbanks and the Vols. Hope to see you there. Have a great day, everybody.