[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports podcast.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: And now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Basketball Talk Today on the podcast, Arkansas with that big loss at Florida over the weekend. Texas coming up tomorrow night at Bud Walton Arena. Anthony Christensen is here in studio with me, 111 to 77 against the Gators. And we talked about this game last week and previewed it, Ethan and I did on Friday.
And you know, you talk about Arkansas can win if. They can win if. It felt like there was a lot of ifs that were involved in Arkansas going there and winning, but the biggest one was how do they handle Florida inside?
And the, you know, I mean, they did it. Yeah, I mean, that's, that was the overwhelming, you know, takeaway was that, you know, Florida just totally manhandled Arkansas inside. They're not the first team that's done that this year. And.
But boy, that was, that was pretty eye opening.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Yes, no, it was, it was.
Even the 34 point difference almost felt too small.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Yeah. At a certain point, closer than the
[00:01:03] Speaker B: game really was because it was, I mean, and just kind of being, you know, in Gainesville the whole day and kind of, you know, going around, you know, going to game day that morning and kind of going around town, like you could, obviously Florida was playing for a share to clinch a share of the SEC title and you could, I guess, feel that anticipation. I mean, you know, as I'm driving down the street to go to the arena, there are these kids that are like waving flags around the, around the block and you know, the line for the student entrance is like super long. They're throwing footballs, they're drinking beers.
So you can see like there's a ton of anticipation for, you know, the opportunity to, to clinch a share of the title. And frankly, probably, they probably will win the outright title. You know, when you look at they play Mississippi State tonight, I think that's the, I think that's who they've got tonight. So you would think Florida would win that game.
But yeah, it was, it was not close.
I mean, you know, the, the, you know, you look at Florida's front court, Ruben Chinul and Thomas Houck and, and Alex Condon, I think they combined for 57 points. When you look at Arkansas's main 20 trio of front court players, Nick Pringle, Malik Ewan and Trevin Brazil, if I'm not mistaken, they combined for 14 and Ruben Chinulu had 16 rebounds. Arkansas's three guys had 15 combined.
It was, it was.
Yeah.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: It's not a surprise, though. I mean, Every time Arkansas has faced an elite big man this year and I wouldn't even maybe sometimes when they haven't faced elite big men, just really good, you know, they've, they have struggled against them. That seems like that is this team's kryptonite is if you have a really strong front court player and Florida's got like three of them, you're, you're probably
[00:02:59] Speaker B: going to for four with Micah Handlog done too.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: So I mean it's that, that's what gives Arkansas fits.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. There have been times when Arkansas has had good physical games. I mean Tennessee for example, you know, came into that game as the number one offensive rebounding team in the country in Arkansas out rebounded Tennessee that game. But you are correct in saying that, you know, too far, that that's too far. Few and far between, I guess is the right way to put it. You know, Michigan State, Duke, Houston, you
[00:03:28] Speaker A: know, I thought even Alabama.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, Aiden, yeah, yeah. Shirelle, you know, Santo Sorrel, Georgia, you know, Keyshawn Murphy at Auburn, you know, especially the road game against Auburn, I mean, I know Arkansas really took care of business against Auburn in the reverse fixture, but you know, at Auburn, I mean you look at, you know, all, all of these, these games, you know that there is kind of that all of these losses, I, there are like, I guess some of those kind of common denominators. I mean, maybe Kentucky is a little bit different, but even then Malachi Moreno, I thought had a really nice night that game too. So yeah, that's been, that's kind of been I guess the kryptonite, if we want to, if we want to call it that. And you know, the rebounding has been not great all year. I mean they rate as the number 112 team in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, number 261 and defensive rebounding. So you know, those are numbers that can, you know, especially if you, when you get into the tournament, you know, those, those are things that, you know, can hurt you depending on who you go up against. You know, Yale is a really strong rebounding team that will probably, if it wins the IBB on that 12 line, which Arkansas right now is looking at that 512 matchup barring, you know, a change, you know.
Yeah. So I mean there's, there's a lot of teams that you know, could take advantage of that. And I'm not sitting here saying that Yale would beat Arkansas by any means. You know, it could happen, sure, anything can happen in March, but You know, I'm just saying that it's. It's a concern, you know, for sure, that's a huge concern into the, into the postseason.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: Well, and it makes the rest of
[00:04:58] Speaker B: the regular season, with these last two
[00:05:00] Speaker A: games, it makes you think that unless they get a path in March where there are some upsets along the way and some teams that have really strong front courts, you know, maybe they get nipped in the first or second round or something, you know, Arkansas's got to win its games to even talk about post first round.
It just feels like that's going to be what sets this team apart in March. Or maybe, put another way, it's going to be what keeps them going from going deep into the tournament. Yeah, I was watching Arizona, Iowa State last night.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: I was, too.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Arizona State. I mean, just look, look, not Arizona State, but Arizona. How big they are, you know, Yukon, Yukon, Florida. I mean, like the best teams in the country this year.
Yeah, I mean, they're. They're huge in the front court. And it's. It's about more than size. You got to have capable players, too. But that's, that's what really, you know, I think Duke with, with Boozer. Yeah, like those. The best teams are really strong in the front court. And there's always been this talk about you got to have guards to win in March, and I think an element
[00:06:09] Speaker B: of truth to that.
[00:06:10] Speaker A: But, boy, it seems to me like the teams that are best equipped to win championships right now are the teams that are really strong in the front court. And I don't see that from Arkansas.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, look at the. Look at the past few national champions. I mean, obviously Florida last year, Yukon two years before that, Florida last year. A lot of that was built, you know, around the guard play. You know, Walter Clayton, Elijah Martin and. And Will Richard. But they still had this front court, which is, for my money, the best front court in the country. You look at the Yukon teams before that. Donovan, Klingan, Adama, Sanogo. So, yeah, I mean, you look at. You look at all of that, and yeah, you do need big men. And even the teams that they were playing against, I mean, that Purdue team, Zach, Edie, you know, you know. Yeah. So it.
You need front court presence. And, you know, Arkansas has shown at different times this season that it can have that. You know, Tennessee is probably the prime example. You look at the Mississippi State game, even though Mississippi State stinks, you know, it's known for its physicality. And Arkansas, you know, went on the road and, you know, beat him by 20, you know, so, you know, Ole Miss is another team known for physicality, but also Ole Miss stinks. So, you know, other than, other than Tennessee, the only projected tournament team that you've probably seen, Arkansas tournament teams. You've probably seen Arkansas, you know, have its way with the front court is Missouri, which was really good. You know, obviously Missouri's front court, you know, two big physical guys, Mark Mitchell and Sean Phillips, you know, they beat Auburn. Split the series with Auburn though. And you know, they, they also beat Louisville, which at the time was a, a good, a good rebounding team, but
[00:07:58] Speaker A: has kind of shoot like 50 threes a game.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: So I mean it's a totally different. Yeah, it's style that they're running.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: Yeah, no, for sure. So you look at that, you know, there's some give and take, but I, I think that is front court production is definitely the biggest concern. As you look, you look ahead to these last couple of regular season games with Texas and Missouri both having, like we already mentioned Missouri. Texas is also pretty good in the front court. And then you look, you know, even beyond that SEC and NCAA tournament, I think that front court production is probably the biggest concern that you have with Arkansas.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: I think Arkansas's last two losses really shine a light on roster construction. The Alabama loss, we talked about it, and the lack of events and, and I know they had injuries that, that influenced that, but injuries are part of the game. And then this game against Florida, I mean it's, it's just, it's been glaring all year that there's problems in their front court. But holy cow, when you put that up against the mirror of like the best front court probably in college basketball, I mean, it just, I'm very interested to see, and I know you got to finish this season first, but as they move forward and they build a roster for 26, 27, what do they do about those two areas?
Do they try to lengthen the bench and do they go out and really spend the money that it's going to take to, to get one of those elite front court players? Like, I know, I know Hunter Dickinson didn't bring a championship to Kansas, but Kansas went out and spent the money that it took to get the premier front court player, you know, of that transfer cycle. Like, will Arkansas go out and do what it takes to get that kind of player who's a total difference maker. And Caliperi seen what kind of difference maker you can have when you have a great player in the post?
[00:09:45] Speaker B: Yeah, Oscar.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Well, I mean, what about Cousins. What about Anthony Davis? What about, you know, to a lesser
[00:09:52] Speaker B: sheepway in particular is a guy, he went and got out of the portal.
[00:09:54] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: He started at West Virginia. So, like, you know, we know that he's shown that he can get, you know, that kind of guy out of the portal, which is probably what you're looking at trying to do this cycle.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: And they're expensive, man. It's like, it's like in baseball, going out and getting the Paul Skeens out of the transfer portal. It's going to cost you something to do it.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: And you may have to be a little lucky. You know, it's not just that you got to pay them a lot of money. It's that you've got to bring them in and convince them that this is going to be the best spot for you to come in and develop.
And we're going to surround you with this, this and this, and we're going to give you a chance to win a championship here.
I felt like they went and I know Ewan had some good numbers at Florida State and Pringle, kind of the same thing at South Carolina, but it just didn't feel like they went out and got that elite front court player in the, in the off season. And maybe they went after some and they couldn't land them. I don't know. I don't, I don't follow that close enough. But I just know what I see on the floor right now is not front court wise. It's not what it needs to be to compete with, you know, the other teams around him. I felt like they did it a little bit better the first year with Jonas Adu bringing him in. I know he had the foot injury and, but you saw down the stretch last year what Jonas Adu could be.
They don't have that in the front court this year.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: Yeah, no. Jonas Adu was a big reason why they made that Sweet 16 run last year.
And yeah, I mean, when you look at, you know, there were some reports, you know, over the off season that they were trying to get Mahrez Johnson, who ultimately, ultimately landed at Michigan. And you look at, you know, how, how good Michigan has been and, you know, some of that is because, you know, they've got Mahrez Johnson, they've got Yoxel, Linda Borg, who I think they were lightly linked with but not super heavily kind of connected with, you know, because there was also the big question, was Yaxel and Deborah going to stay in the draft, which he kind of graded out like he was going to be a late first round pick but then ultimately decided to go to Michigan. And you look at the season Michigan's having. Michigan also got a day Mara from, from UCLA and you know, Michigan is, you know, one of the three, four best teams in the country right now and has been number one and you know, has been sensational. You look at, I mean, yeah, obviously Florida didn't have to go and get any front court guys but they still have to spend the money to keep those guys. Right. So you get that. You know, Duke went out and obviously brought in Cam Boozer for you know, obviously it's a little different going in getting a one and done freshman like that.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: And they got him on the alumni, right?
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. A guy literally named after the arena.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Which is. Yeah, it's. It obviously that's all aside, I think that's a pretty cool story. But you know, Arizona, you look at you know, co opeats and, and you know, Ivan Karchenkov, you know those guys, you know, Crevas as well and you know, obviously Karchenkov and Krivos are two, you know, international guys and Tommy Lloyd's always been, you know, when he, even when he was at Gonzaga under Mark Few, he's always been the guy who's been connected with the international ties and everything. So he's obviously, you know, been a big part of, you know, getting guys like that. But yeah, it's, it's. I mean even, even beyond that, I mean Illinois, Houston, you know, these are the, and I know Houston's kind of like Florida where more retention but they went out and got Khalifa Sacco out of Sam Houston, who was a big time portal target for a lot of teams for, for their back to be a backup center. You know, UConn, Iowa State, you know, so many teams. Even Nebraska rank master. I shouldn't say even Nebraska. Nebraska has been sensational this year, but you know what I mean.
Yeah, it's, it's, you know, Gonzaga to spend to keep Graham Ike. You go down the line, you know, Texas Tech had to spend to keep J.T. toppin and get Luke Bamboy out of the, out of the portal. And you'll look at, you know, even down JT Top and Texas Tech has been sensational in the three games they've had without him. So I mean you go down the line and you know, you see how impactful these, these you know, elite big time big men can be.
And you know we've, we've seen flashes of Arkansas having you know, some Success in the front court, but it's just been too few and far between. And that, you know, is, you know, like we mentioned, a huge concern. As you look down the rest of the regular season, you know, this, this final week and then, you know, looking ahead to the postseason as well.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: There's this running, running bit for many years. I don't know how much of it's a bit and how much of it's just true.
There was the Larry Johnson saying to Nolan Richardson after UNLVB to Arkansas, he said, you got to get yourself some men. Every time Arkansas gets punked in the front court, like happened, like, you just hear that over and over.
Larry Johnson's words. Living for, you know, gosh, probably close to 40 years now.
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[00:15:19] Speaker B: Arkansas needs to start cleaning up the glass.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: They really do. Yeah, it seems like we go to that Bentonville Glass a lot whenever we're talking about Arkansas struggling in the. In the front court.
I guess if there's a positive.
If there's a positive from this game Saturday night, it's that Billy Richmond just continues to really elevate his game. 22 points. That's five straight games now where he's had 20 points. Before those five games, he'd never scored more than, I think, 16.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: 16, yep.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: Really incredible what he's doing.
But I think that you're getting to the point now where it's like, if you're wanting to keep Billy for another year, hey, Billy, you might want to slow this thing down. Because I tend to think that scouts are seeing this and thinking that here's somebody who maybe a month ago was a sleeper in the NBA draft circles. And I have to believe he's really helped himself with this run that he's put on offensively.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I mean, he's been phenomenal. And I mean, like, every time we talk about Billy Richmond, you have to mention everything he does, you know, without the ball, his effort, plays, his defense. You know, he's a guy who's always going to be able to, you know, guard the other team's best player and, you know, there's a certain element and that.
And sometimes you hesitate to say a guy can guard one through five just because, you know, there's not a ton of guys who can do that. But, you know, he has done that. You know, not to say that I would, you know, want him to go out and guard Cam Boozer by any means, but, you know, it's a challenge that he would be ready and willing to take, and, you know, maybe he could have some success with that as well. You know, the concern with him from a professional perspective still is, you know, his shooting range, but you're starting to see that jumper fall a lot more in these, you know, past few games.
You know, so there is all of that. You know, I'm sure it's something that has been, you know, noticed by. By scouts and. And, you know, a lot of people.
But, you know, with. With regard to. To Billy Richmond and, you know, NBA draft talk, you know, you're looking at this draft class being super, super deep. You know, you look at, you know, just this freshman class in general. The last time I looked at a mock draft, nine of the first 10 were freshmen.
And, you know, then even beyond, you know, freshmen, you're looking at guys like Thomas Hauck at Florida, who is, you know, picking up some lottery hype. LeBaron file on at Alabama, picking up some lottery hype. So this draft class is. Is really, really deep.
So, you know, is it. Is it best to. And, you know, I think.
And I'm not, you know, an advisor by any means, I think it would be smart for him to test the waters, you know, like Carter Knox did last year, and get that feedback. And, you know, at the. At the very least, I should say test the waters, get the feedback, and then, you know, make your decision after that.
But, yeah, I think it's, you know, he's. He's played himself into the conversation, if nothing else. And I think that just kind of speaks to, you know, his own personal development, his own, you know, you know, his development, you know, that just. Just everything that kind of goes into that, the coaching that comes into it and all of. All of that. So, you know, I would be.
Yeah, I. I think he should test it. I think that would be the smart thing to do, just to, you know, get the feedback at the very least, and then start your professional career if. If things go really well. So. Yeah.
[00:18:55] Speaker A: You struggle with your hair.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: You had to flick it over, like, three times during that answer.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: It's ridiculously long. I'm sure, like Obviously.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: What was your last haircut?
[00:19:04] Speaker B: It was either October or November.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: So here's my thing. I get my haircut three times a year.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: I get my hair cut every two weeks.
You get to the point where the grays are coming in and you cut it short so that they just.
You try to hide them. As best I can.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: So here's my strategy, right? So I'm frugal. I don't like to spend a lot of money, so I go to sport clips.
You go for the price, not the aesthetics. So I come out looking real chopped most of the time. Or not most of the time. Some of the time. But you go there.
I go there in March. So I'll get. I'll get my haircut before the NCAA tournament. That's just what I do.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: Was it last year the Caliper made a comment about your hair? Yeah. Like at the NCAA tournament?
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah. He asked, did you get a haircut? I said, yeah. Does it look good? He said, no.
[00:19:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: But it was a good time. But, yeah. So I get it in March, and then I get it in August and then October.
Okay. So it's very.
It's meticulous.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: It is meticulous.
I'm not one to talk because we go over two weeks, but it's. We're like very contrasting styles here.
I think. What I mean, I get my hair cut, like, in a month as many times as you do in a year. Something like that. Pretty close to it.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:30] Speaker A: We're bringing a hat next time.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: I wear a hat whenever I walk the dog in the morning. And that's. That's not the only time I'll wear a hat. But that's the vast majority of times when I'm wearing a hat. You'll see me with. With Dallow on the leash.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: So they played Texas tomorrow night, and there's a lot of people that are talking about, hey, why is Arkansas, Texas the only game on Wednesday night in the SEC?
Short answer? I don't know, but there's. There's 14 teams playing tonight, and then Arkansas, Texas play tomorrow night. There's a lot of people, you know, I mean, thinking the SEC is out to get Arkansas and they've put them in a tough predicament here where they got to play Texas and they got to travel and they got to play Saturday against Missouri when nobody else has to have that kind of turnaround. I suspect that the SEC women's tournament probably has something to do with this. Yeah.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: The TV slots that.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: On SEC network tomorrow night are Going to be a couple of at least a couple maybe, maybe three women's basketball games.
And so that takes that inventory at the. Or that the SEC women's tournament takes some of that inventory that would be available for men's games.
Otherwise, I think that probably has something to do with it. It's the only real explanation I can come up with.
But so they get an extra day to prepare for Texas. It's a six o' clock tip off tomorrow night at Bud Walton Arena. Texas played Florida pretty close.
Now you get into that danger zone where you compare scores.
What do you see from Texas and you know, what kind of challenges do you think they present to Arkansas?
[00:22:13] Speaker B: Well, let's get ready to talk front court again.
You know, Texas is a really good rebounding team. They rate 15th in the country in offensive rebounding and 49. And in defensive rebounding, which, you know, the 49 isn't, you know, a super, like, it's not a number that jumps off the page, but when you look at Arkansas's defensive rebounding number being to whatever it was, 200 something, and that becomes, you know, something that immediately becomes, you know, a bit of concern, you know, you know, Texas is not a great defensive team. So that's where you probably want to see Arkansas kind of take advantage of how good of an offensive team it is. You know, get Darius Acuff back to being more efficient.
You know, he was, he scored 17 points on 19 shots against Florida. Just wasn't his, wasn't his night.
But, you know, Texas's defense has been not great throughout the season. You know, it rates us the number 109 defense, you know, in the country. But you know, the offense is really good for Texas as well. But yeah, you look at, you know, Texas, you know, obviously there's a, the familiar name of Tramond Mark.
You know, he's, he's played pretty well this season. You know, he's, he's shooting 58% from two point shots and you know, he's got a real low turnover rates and you know, he takes a good percentage of the shots. Doesn't, you know, he takes a lot of threes, doesn't shoot, doesn't hit them at a high rate. But you know, it's something that you have to worry about with him. And you know, he's had, he's had a pretty good, good season. Dalen Swain's probably the guy you have to look at the most for Texas. You know, he's a decent three point shooter though he doesn't shoot them At a. At a super high volume.
But, you know, he's really good at getting to the basket. He was really good at that last season under Sean Miller at Xavier as well. You know, gets to the line. So, you know, Arkansas has gotten into foul trouble over a past, you know, few games.
You know, so that is something to monitor is Dalen Swain's ability to draw fouls as he drives. You know, he takes the most shots or second most shots on the team behind Tramond Mark. He's also a guy who moves the ball pretty well. He's got a high assist rate. And then you look more at. At the front. The front courts. You know, Mataspokotis, you know, he's a. He's a really effective big man. You know, he's another guy who draws a lot of fouls and gets to the line. You know, he's a really good rebounder. And yeah, you get into, you know, all of that. Lucina Traore is. Is a guy who they brought in. He also followed Sean Miller from Xavier, but, you know, he's been out injured. I don't know the extent of that injury. I probably should, just to be frank. But Camden, Heidi is a guy who's played, you know, good minutes for them. And yeah, you know, Simeon Wilcher was on last season, St. John's team who, you know, had a great regular season. And then obviously Arkansas beat them in the second round. But yeah, I mean, Jordan Pope's also back from last year's Texas team as well. So there. There's a lot of different areas that can hurt you, but the way. The main thing that you look at with this Texas team is probably the front court, but, you know, the defense hasn't been great, so there's a little bit of mismatches on both sides. So the front court for Texas probably is an advantage for Texas, but then you look at Texas's defense and you would think Arkansas's offense could really take advantage of that. So it'll be. It'll be an interesting game. Just kind of a. Yeah. From. From those perspectives.
[00:25:42] Speaker A: Well, and Arkansas is playing at home.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: That too.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: I mean, that. That's.
It's big. That's huge.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: Talk about a short bench. That adds one person to the bench. Yeah, right. I mean, it's. The home court advantage for Arkansas this year has been really good. Texas, they're four and five away from home, so they haven't been great on the road this season, so, you know, a big deal there. You mentioned Tramond Mark.
Did he have two Bad games against Arkansas last year or was it just one?
[00:26:09] Speaker B: I believe it was two, if I'm not mistaken.
[00:26:11] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I remember it was really bad in Austin, but I couldn't remember how it went in Fayetteville. But I tend to think that like
[00:26:19] Speaker B: there was Fayetteville was the, wasn't there
[00:26:21] Speaker A: a point where like he had played against Arkansas for like, gosh, 30 something minutes and had not scored? Am I, am I wrong about that? Or maybe hadn't made a field goal.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: Let's, let's, let's check it out, shall we? All right, so last season, Tremond Mark against Arkansas in the road game he had two points, was one of eight from the field, six rebounds, one assist. And then in the home game he had zero points.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: Yeah, zero or.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: And was zero of one from the field.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: Yeah. So I mean, you know that he's going to be motivated to play, you know, well in this game.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:00] Speaker A: But I thought he'd be motivated last year too. Sometimes I guess you can be a little too motivated.
[00:27:04] Speaker B: Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, you can.
Sometimes you can get into your own head sometimes if you're, if you're going, I guess too, too to the wall, I guess. I don't know.
But yeah, no, I mean he's, he's had a good season, you know, obviously, you know, he, you know, having covered half of the Arkansas season when he was here, you know, you know what he can do, you know, when he's, when he's on and you know, he's a big, he's been a big part of Texas's, I guess, turnaround to getting not safely into the NCAA tournament field, but better than most bubble resumes.
You know, that's not saying a lot because the bubble stinks. But you know, but yeah, so he's been a big part of that. So he's going to be a guy to watch. You know, he had an awesome, awesome game against Texas A and M and
[00:27:56] Speaker A: a big, you know, the Aggies are going to be so happy to see him go.
Remember what he did to him here?
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Was like a 30 something, 38 points or something crazy.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: Just took over a game against them here, I believe. And I think he's done that to him at least one other time since he's been in Austin.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: If I'm not mistaken, that Texas A and M game was either the, the last game or second to last game before I moved to Arkansas to start this job.
But I was watching the games a. Because I just watched college Basketball B, to get myself more familiar with the team and everything and the storylines and all that to, to prepare myself for the, the job. And I do remember that game that was, that was, that was fun. And then he hit another, another one against, against him last season too, if I'm not mistaken.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Beat a buzzer beater to beat him. Right.
[00:28:51] Speaker B: I think. Yeah, he's. He's. Yeah, like, yeah, he loves playing against Texas A M. Yeah, the Angus they
[00:28:58] Speaker A: did are ready to get him out of town, out of the state or something.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: In the home game against A M when a M1, he scored 13 points and was 6 of 14 from the field. So a rare, not great game for, for Tremond Mark against Texas A and M. But then he turned it around and had 23, 23 points in the, you know, a huge win for Texas.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: I did see him say something. He said, I don't like the color maroon.
So it's kind of like, you know, it's kind of like the bull. You pull out the red, you know, the red flag and he just runs right through it.
[00:29:30] Speaker B: Little maroon.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: Maroon for Tramon. Mark brings out the rage.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: But yeah, no, he's. He's good. He's good and it'll, It'll, you know, that I'm sure he'll be one of the first names on the, on this, on the scouting or was, I guess, one of the first names in the scouting report. But yeah,
[00:29:47] Speaker A: beat Texas tomorrow.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Are you asking me to make a prediction?
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, what are you? Kirk, Herb Street? You can't make a prediction because you're going to be at the game.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: You would think so, right? I mean, you look at Arkansas's offense versus Texas's defense, and it's just, it's a clear, you know, area in which Texas just probably isn't a team that's going to keep up with Arkansas's offense.
But I mean, and you look at some of the more explosive teams that Texas has played against. The loss to Duke, you know, they lost to Florida, but like we said, kind of kept that close for a lot of the game. You know, lost to Georgia, you know, lost to Auburn, which that, that loss is aged poorly.
Lost to Kentucky, lost to Tennessee. So you look at some of these, lost to UConn, you look at some of these, you know, really good offensive teams that, that Texas has played against and they've struggled. But then on the other side, you know, they beat Vanderbilt and. But, you know, obviously Texas is bigger and more physical and that's the kind of team Vanderbilt has really struggled against this season.
But yeah, I would probably say that Arkansas probably has the. Is the favorite because of the offense and Texas's defense or sometimes lack thereof. But if, if the result is to flip and Texas is to come in and beat Arkansas at. At Bud Walton, I think it would have to be because of the front court in getting, you know, Mataspo Kotaitis, you know, really involved and Tremond Mark probably having a good game as well.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: How about Bruce, speaking of Auburn, Bruce Pearl out here trying to do Stephen Pearl's bidding and you know, pulling for a Miami of Ohio to lose in the Mac tournament. Also look for people who haven't heard this. Bruce Pearl said over the weekend on tnt, he said that if Miami of Ohio, who. What are they, 30 and oh now are they 29 and 29 and they have.
He says that if they don't win their conference tournament, they shouldn't be in the NCAA tournament. Which. Who would that benefit? That would benefit bubble teams, one of which is the Auburn Tigers, which Auburn
[00:31:58] Speaker B: should not be a bubble team. 15 and 14. I know the strength of schedule is, you know, the number one strength of schedule in the country.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: But however you've also got strength of schedule is the. That's the argument against Miami of Ohio. I think theirs is like 321.
[00:32:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean you understand that. But you know, Auburn strength of schedule is number one. But they, they've also gotten nuked in so many games and I mean when you look at Miami Ohio. Yeah. 29 and 0 with you know, a not good, you know, frankly, terrible strength of schedule. Right. But they're still 29 and oh. The likelihood that Miami Ohio would have been undefeated at this stage of the season entering the year was like less than a half of a percent.
[00:32:43] Speaker A: Cue me talking about this 20 times between now and selection Sunday.
This is why you should send your regular season conference champion to the NCAA tournament and not this Mickey Mouse crap at the conference tournaments.
[00:32:58] Speaker B: But let me be clear, Miami Ohio should be in regardless.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: That's my point. Yeah, they're the best team in their conference. Yeah, they've been the best team in their conference over the course of many, many weeks. 13, 14 weeks or I mean, I guess you want to narrow it down to conference only play like two months.
Why are you determining who gets your conference bid based on who's the best team for three days?
[00:33:21] Speaker B: Yeah, no, it.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: When you're playing basketball unlike any other time in the season. I mean, when else has Miami of Ohio been asked to play Three games in three days. Yeah, maybe it's some sort of multi team event and Thanksgiving, but like, like this doesn't make any sense. It's just like you don't make any sense that you only get three haircuts a year.
You know, you don't, you don't, you don't choose who your conference champion is on three games in three days when the rest of the time you're playing three games in like 10 or 11 days.
Like you can't, you cannot explain that one to me. Yeah, I don't understand. I understand why the conference tournaments are played. It's all about money. Yeah, but I don't know, like maybe, or maybe shrink the conference tournaments and only invite your best teams.
[00:34:09] Speaker B: That's what, that's what the Ivy.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Because really what it's about, about the championship game, especially for these mid major conferences, all major conferences maybe invite your two best teams and you play a true conference championship game. I would entertain that idea a lot more than I would, hey, let's have a 16 team tournament over four or five days.
And you know, maybe your best teams get picked off because they just have a bad, bad day because you know their legs are tired because they're not used to playing this much basketball.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe. Yeah. But I mean, I know the Mac doesn't send every team to the conference tournament. I don't remember how many teams actually get in. But like you look at the Ivy League, I think only four teams get in. I think that's, I think that's probably the best, the best way to do it for any conference tournament, but especially, you know, a mid to low major conference. But like Miami Ohio, like if you're, if Miami Ohio goes undefeated and then loses in the conference tournament and then is left out of the field, you're
[00:35:10] Speaker A: telling what, that could be the best thing that could happen for the future of the tournament.
I'm serious. You need something high profile like that to happen to get the conference's attention. Like, okay, maybe what we're doing is not the best way to be doing
[00:35:25] Speaker B: this, but still, if a team goes undefeated in the regular season and then loses in the conference tournament and then doesn't go to the NCAA tournament, you are telling every team outside of the power conferences that no game that you play matters until your conference tournament and you simply cannot do that. And I, like, like I said, I fully understand why people are having this conversation. You know, Miami Ohio's strength of schedule stinks. It does. It's bad, it's very bad. Part of that is because a bunch of power conference teams will refuse to play against a team from a mid major league that is projected to be good. Which Miami Ohio was like, I, I've got it. I know one mid major coach in particular had one season where they went 500 and then struggled to get games the next year they went 500.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:20] Speaker B: And like so this is just it, it all kind of culminates to, you know, how just the current landscape is just messed up with, you know, the way the tournament is selected and all, all of that. And if, if you leave Miami Ohio out after an undefeated regular season or even just a one loss regular season, you are telling every team outside of the, outside of the, you know, the major conferences, the power five of, you know, the sec, Big Ten, Big east, acc and which one am I missing?
[00:36:55] Speaker A: The other one.
[00:36:57] Speaker B: You're telling every, you're telling every team outside of the power conferences that your regular seasons don't matter and you cannot do that.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: Hey, I want to ask you real quick before we get out of here, what was it like being at college game day?
[00:37:08] Speaker B: It was kind of fun. Yeah, it was, it was cool. You know, I hug. We did not hug.
No, no. So it was, it was a cool, cool experience. You know, it was fun. You know the, the kid they brought out to do the half court shot hit it. That was real cool. And it was, it was, it was a lot of fun.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: And had you ever been to college game day before? No.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: No. Not for basketball, not for football, not for, not for anything.
[00:37:33] Speaker A: When game day came to Fayetteville, I've been two times. Once for football, once for basketball. Both times when they came to Fayetteville. Football, they came for the Tennessee game in 2006. Basketball, they came two years ago for the Kentucky game.
I didn't, it's. I don't know, it's, it's not for me. I guess maybe I'll just put it that way.
The basketball one. And I was actually surprised on Saturday. I didn't realize that it was a two hour show. When they came to Fayetteville last year or two years ago as a one hour show, I'm sitting there, I'm watching it. I got other things I got to get done on Saturday morning and I'm like, why are they going to break it? You know, 9:57, shouldn't the show be like where are the picks here?
And so that, that threw me off. I didn't really enjoy being there for the basketball one.
Football one. I was actually living near campus at that time and the football there seems
[00:38:25] Speaker B: like there's a lot of page entry,
[00:38:26] Speaker A: but you couldn't hear anything. You couldn't hear anything. And so I was like, well, I want to actually see the show. So I actually ran back to my house, watched the show until about, I don't know, quarter till and then ran back down to the stadium in time to see Lee Corso put on the headgear.
So that was. Those have been my college game day experiences. It's weir.
It's definitely a made for TV show. You have to have the audience there to have great television. But man, I tell you both times that I've been in the crowd for that. I hadn't really enjoyed it very much. I don't think I'd go back.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: It was tough to hear.
I was trying to record segments, audio.
[00:39:07] Speaker A: Oh, good luck.
[00:39:08] Speaker B: Record audio for some segments.
[00:39:10] Speaker A: No, I got empty arena, like a mostly empty arena. And then you got the cheering part. And it's.
[00:39:16] Speaker B: Yeah, it was.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: There's no way you're getting.
[00:39:18] Speaker B: Not at all.
Very, very little of that. But. But no, it was, it was fun. I mean, like I said, there's the pageantry with it.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: And it's weird when your team or like the team that you're interested in is on game day, but it's not on your campus.
You know what I'm saying? Where it's like. Because Arkansas had this happen to one time where they went to Georgia and they got smacked at, you know, Georgia for football. I was actually thinking about that Saturday. There were a lot of parallels between that football team going to Georgia and getting, you know, slapped around. And then what happened with basketball the other day. The. I don't know. It's. It's a very different feeling. I almost feel like. I almost feel like part of the draw of game day is like getting to see them on your campus and, you know, kind of highlight your facilities. You're this, you're that.
It's a. It's a totally different thing whenever it's on the road. But I'm glad you got to go. Yeah, experience that. All right. We'll be back tomorrow with another podcast hope that we see at our website whole hog sports.com baseball game today. Razorbacks play ORU at 3 o' clock over at Bomb Walker Stadium. Few former Razorbacks are on the ORU roster. We wrote about them today at Whole Hog sports.com you can read about it there and all of our coverage from the game tonight. Hope that we see you on our website or tomorrow on the show. Have a great day.
