Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Happy Friday everybody. I am your guest host Christina Long filling in for Matt Jones who is covering some Razorback baseball right now as we're recording. Those game times for baseball and softball got moved up because of the weather, which I personally am in support of because it clears the deck for gymnastics. I would not be me if I did not mention gymnastics. Our producer Sydney was also excited to have a little bit of gymnastics talk. They're trying to break the NCAA attendance record tonight in their meet against Oklahoma. They're going to start at 7:30, they say get there by 7:15 for all the, the pre meet hype stuff as well. So it should be really fun. Oklahoma is the top ranked team in the country, defending national champion.
The attendance record they're trying to break is over 16,000 people. So it is a huge goal for them and we'll see if they can get to it. But had to, had to talk a little bit about gymnastics since I cover them over there. So Anthony Christensen is joining us now from Columbia, Missouri where he is there to cover Arkansas basketball's game against the Tigers tomorrow. We're going to talk a little bit about that game and a little bit about the SEC tournament picture. Anthony's joining us from Free Advertising, the best brewery in Columbia, Missouri. Log boat. Anthony around? I'm glad we're doing this now because I need to remind you to please bring me home a six pack of ship heads so that I can just relive college briefly.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: Got it. You've got it. I'll bring myself like six too.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Perfect. Just buy whatever they have and just bring it back. You drove. You've got room in the car?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: I've got plenty of room in the car, yeah.
Yes. So the best place we're out.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: Before you headed over to Logboat, you were listening to Dennis Gates's pregame press conference. So what did Coach Gates have to say? This is a quick turnaround. You know, they, they played Missouri not too long ago. Arkansas did and won that game obviously here at Budwalton Arena. What did Dennis Gates have to say about this, this second iteration of this matchup?
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Yeah, he talked a lot about how the last game it was, there were just a lot of thin margins.
I mean, you know, you mentioned the second chance points. You know, Arkansas just barely outdated did Missouri in that, in that category.
You know, points in transition, stuff like that, you know, so trying to just sharpen up the finer details from, from the Missouri angle of things is kind of what he talked about. You know, I talked, I asked him about, you know, Darius Acuff and you know, how you even try to prepare to guard him. And you know, he compared him a lot to Chris Paul when Chris, Chris Paul was in college and you know, so yeah, a lot of that kind of stuff. You know, he harped on some of the, the, the, the non game kind of events of, of tomorrow's game day with it being Senior Day for, you know, Mark Mitchell and Sean Phillips and a lot of those guys.
And yeah, I think those were the biggest things. But with regard to the game, it was a lot of talk about, you know, limiting.
Yeah. Or I guess cleaning up some of the finer details like I mean Missouri only had 10 turnovers against Arkansas, but six of those were from the point guards. So they're going to want to clean that up, you know, so stuff like that. And you know, he was very complimentary of how difficult of a place Bud Walton is to go and play and credit some of that to, to, to that, you know, being in that road environment.
So yeah, that's kind of the main things he talked about. And yeah, and then Mark Mitchell kind of came in and kind of touched on a lot of the same stuff. So, you know, so it was, yeah, that was, that was the press conference.
[00:03:22] Speaker A: You talked a little bit, you and I did off, off microphone about you putting Missouri in your AP ballot and not feeling great about it because of the way that, that lost Oklahoma.
Did they. I didn't even know, didn't even see that. That's so funny. I, I remember talking to you a little bit earlier in the week about how that, what Was it like? 20 to 25 range was just hard because.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Just ridiculous because everybody lost and everybody stinks.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: But somebody's got to be 20 to 25. You got to fill the ranking out somewhere.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Yeah, you can't, you can't turn in your ballot with only 20 teams ranked, unfortunately. So. But I put Missouri in because, you know, it won six of eight games and it looked really good. Beaten some really good teams as well.
And you know, it was between Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, St. Louis, kind of all in that range of teams I was considering. And I went with Missouri, Tennessee and St. Louis because Missouri had beaten Tennessee that week.
Tennessee had, had already had 20 plus wins even though it had lost twice to Kentucky. Kentucky only had the 19 wins.
So I wanted to reward Tennessee for having more overall wins. And then I kept St. Louis at 25 because if I had dropped St. Louis out, it would have been the only three loss team team with three or fewer losses in the country that would not have been on my ballot and I felt that the overall body of work was, was worth rewarding. And then since then Tennessee has won. Good work Volunteers.
Missouri lost to OKLAHOMA PU and St. Louis has, has won its games as well. So I guess.
And then Kentucky Kentucky lost to.
Who did Kentucky lose to? Kentucky lost is the, is the. The important thing to note. So you know, I think I did what, I think I did what I could.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: With, with that range.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: But it was, it was tough because yeah, all, all the teams I was going to vote for over those teams all also lost. You know, UCF Belmont, you know a lot. Just so many teams. Vanderbilt lost two games but it was just, just nobody wanted to be right.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Everyone just. Yeah, just nobody look at us. Get us out of here.
I I wanted to ask you. You've written a couple times about how John Cal Perry has talked about Dennis Gates and I believe it's Sean Miller too about them being guys that have done a great job this year coaching in the SEC and just getting through what they've been given. And, and what do you think about the job that Dennis Gates has done this year? Because his. They've had a lot of ups and downs since he's been there. That first year they really popped. Then they took that huge step step back this year. It seems like they've, you know, they fought through a little bit.
What do you kind of make of the job he's done overall and then also this year. And why do you think John Caliperi thinks so highly of him?
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's just because the, I mean you look at, you know, Missouri's non conference. I mean it was a lot of teams that no disrespect intended, just really didn't have a pulse and then lost to three of the four teams that they played that were rated inside Ken Pops, ken Palm's top 102 of those loss. You know they lost three of those four and two of those losses were by 20 plus points and the one win was Minnesota. And it's like so you look at all that and you know it was a really.
The non conference resume for Missouri was and still kind of is non existent. That's why Missouri is still kind of, you know, on the bubble but kind of on the right side of the bubbles because they didn't have anything of note in the non conference.
But then you kind of peel back the layers a little bit. Jaden Stone was out for most of non conference play as was Trent Pierce.
And you know, getting those Guys back. You know, they go on a little bit of a, they go on a little bit of run. They beat Kentucky, they beat Florida and you know, really got, got off to a really nice start in, in SEC play. They're only one of two teams in conference play to have beaten Florida, which is, you know, you know, a testament to, I mean, that game individually, but also just kind of having those guys back.
And you know, when you have a non conference slate with which you know that, that Missouri had, you know, it can be easy to, you know, get into conference play and see just how much ground you have to make up to, to get into the tournament picture and kind of be daunted by that.
And you know, you know, to, you know, Dennis Gates's credit, to Missouri's credit, they haven't. And they've worked themselves onto the right side of the bubble. Now if the bubble was any stronger, which, you know, the bubble stinks, you know, would that be, would that be the case? I'm not sure. But you know, Missouri's best wins, you know, Florida, Kentucky on the road, you know, a lot of these SEC games are better than a lot of the bubble teams.
The other bubble teams have. So they're, they're in a good position to, to, to get there. And I think that's probably the big reason why you're, we're seeing a lot of people, you talk about the job Dennis Gates has done this season because, you know, yeah, obviously, you know, you and I both went to Mizzou. We all, we have friends who go to, who still cover Mizzou, probably not go to Mizzou. We're all old now. But, but so, you know, we see our friends work and we see, you know, we read what they write and all that and you know, you get, you know, a good, I guess, idea of how the season is going beyond just watching the games and you, you begin to appreciate just the job that, that they've done this season. And I think that's, yeah, the turnaround job, I think is, is one of Dennis Gates's better jobs. You know, throughout his four year tenure at Missouri. Obviously year two was, you know, kind of, I guess a wash, if you will, just how bad that kind of went. But you look at year one and year three and you know, Missouri was, was good in both those years and is, you know, decent this year. So I think that's probably where you, I guess, look just in terms of the job this year and just kind of the job overall. And I think that's why you See, you know, John Calipari say all the things that he said about, about the job Dennis, Dennis Gates has done, you know, for, you know, this season, especially
[00:09:48] Speaker A: in particular, Arkansas won the past, the last matchup against Missouri, 94 to 86.
What do you think Arkansas can learn from that game? What do you think Missouri could learn from that game? That, that could make them, you know, if they are going to give Arkansas a scare here and do you think Arkansas is going to be just fine in this game or how do you think this one's going to go?
[00:10:06] Speaker B: Yeah, so I think the first thing, it goes back to those kind of fine margins, you know, the really tight. It was a tight game for a lot of it. Dennis Gates talked a little bit about how the first half ended and, you know, just how, how much that kind of shifted things because that was, that was pretty back and forth before. I think it was a 16 to 4 run or something like that to end the first half for Arkansas to go into halftime with the lead.
I'm not certain that was the exact number, but there was some sort of run and it came without Darius Acup on the floor. So that was a, you know, that was a big shift in the game for, for, for Arkansas's favor. So I think a lot of it is, you know, for both teams, you know, kind of making sure that they're, they're the ones kind of taking care of those finer details. For Arkansas, I think it also comes down to.
And, and, you know, it seems like every time we hop on a podcast, whether it's you or Matt or Ethan or whoever, you know, it always comes to the front court and, you know, handling the physicality and the size. You know, Missouri is, you know, one of, one of the biggest, if not the biggest team in the sec.
And you know, Arkansas has had, you know, its inconsistencies, you know, with front court play this season. You know, front court played well last time against Missouri. Can they do that again?
You know, out rebounded Missouri, outscored Missouri in the paint. And you know, that's a, that's a big feat when you think about, you know, Mark Mitchell in particular and also, you know, Sean Phillips and, and the guys who can get, you know, driving to the paint. So those, those are, I think the biggest things that you, that you kind of see when you look at this matchup is just kind of. They're, they're kind of.
Yeah, it's, it's. It kind of comes down to, you know, those finer details of making sure that, you know, you're not the team that ends up with, you know, three more turnovers than the, than the other or, you know, more points in the paints, you know, out rebounding, you know, the other side by two or three. You know, whatever it may be, you know, this is kind of one of those games that comes down to those finer details, and I think that's what both teams are definitely going to be going to be harping on. And, you know, I think it'll be, I think it'll be an entertaining game. I think it'll be, Yeah, I, I think it'll be a lot of fun to be at, you know, just, you know, from a, from an atmosphere standpoint. You know, I think everybody loves going to the last home game of the season for a given team, and I think that'll be, It'll be fun. I think it's. Is the, the right way to, to say it and. Yeah. Whether Arkansas can get it done. I think, I think so, right. I mean, Arkansas is going to be the favorite team.
But yeah, like I said, it'll come down to those finer details.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Arkansas is pretty much playing for seating at this point at the SEC tournament and beyond. It seems like most projections, kind of regardless, have them as a five seed in the NCAA tournament. I'm not sure how much do you feel like that can change in the next, you know, whether with this game or with the SEC tournament.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: With this game, I think it's kind of a little bit of a wash with regard to NCAA tournament seating. I don't think, you know, winning at Missouri or losing at Missouri is going to knock you off that for, for the NCAA Tournament, I should say, you know, if you. And I was on the radio the other day and I was asked kind of a similar question. You know, if, if Arkansas were to, say, win out, could it get onto the, the three or four line? You know, four, certainly more likely than three. If you're going to get onto the three line, you're going to need to win out and then get a decent amount of help as well, I think. But, you know, I think, you know, if you, if Arkansas wins and get some other results to go its way, you could see Arkansas maybe start to move into that, into that four line, which is really, you know, where you want to be for the preferential seating sites and, and stuff like that. So that's a it. You know, that's a big deal. And then for. With regard to the SEC tournament, obviously Arkansas locked into that double buy automatically into the quarterfinal, gets the first two days off, you know, so, but you know, you want to be the 2 seed if possible in Arkansas. For it to be the two seed needs to win and it will need Alabama to lose to Auburn at home.
And you know, that's a game that Auburn kind of needs as well, kind of a sidetrack. But you know, so there's a lot of different scenarios. But you know, Arkansas got the most important one for the SEC tournament, the double buy already locked in.
And then so this game for, for those purposes, it's just kind of, you know, seeing how high you can go, which is obviously they can be the two, three or four seed. And then for the NCAA tournament, I don't think that you're going to be dock the seed line if you lose or raise up a seed line if you win, unless, you know, some of those other teams ahead of them, you know, lose.
So I think that's kind of where, where that stands. But yeah, with, with regard to where Arkansas kind of stands in the NCAA tournament picture, I think, you know, they're right on the cusp of that four seed. And some of it, a lot of it will come down to, you know, how Arkansas finishes out the regular season and SEC tournament and then maybe as well get some, get some help elsewhere.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: I want to talk a little bit more SEC tournament, but before that I want to talk about our friends, Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971 and they are committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas, if you're looking for skilled craftsmanship, you can choose Bentonville Glass for all of your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can Visit them at 507 South Main in Bentonville or at Bentonville glass.com and we always thank them for their support.
Anthony, more SEC tournament talk. You know, like you said, tomorrow's game is not necessarily going to cost Arkansas NCAA tournament seating or, or boost it that much. But as far as the SEC tournament, how much do they need to do at the SEC tournament in order to get up to that four line and rather than being at the five.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I mean you can't just go out there and be one and done. Right. You know, and some of that might come down to the opponent, which right now you don't really know what the bracket is going to look like officially. So it's kind of hard to say, you know, one way or another what to expect from, from that perspective.
But if Arkansas is going to be on that four line, I think certainly needs to win at least one game in the SEC tournament. If not, maybe two. You know, and some of it also, you know, like I said, kind of comes down to, you know, what happens elsewhere, what happens with, you know, Texas Tech, what happens with Vanderbilt, what happens with, you know, Team xyz.
So I think some of that kind of comes down to, to that. You know, Arkansas obviously has a pretty nice resume, has some good wins, but also with the, I think it's eight losses right now, that's more than most of those teams ahead of them are going to have at this stage of the season or if those teams ahead of them have, you know, a similar amount of losses, a lot of those are going to be to, you know, take Iowa State for example. Those losses are coming to Arizona, they're coming to Kansas to come to, you know, Team xyz. Whereas, you know, some of Arkansas's losses have come to Georgia on the bubble ish. Or, you know, Kentucky's not really up there in the, the top 16 seed line race or, you know, whoever, whoever it may be, you know, Texas Tech is kind of on that, that line of, you know, four or five seed, you know, if those are the two teams that, you know, comes down to for the final four seed, you know, how much does the committee look at the head to head result? How much does it look at Texas Tech no longer having J.T. toppin, but if they look at the head to head result, how much do they look into Texas Tech not having Luke Bamboy in that game? So there's a lot of different variables that can come into play.
But yeah, the short answer, as I go back to rambling, I think Arkansas, I think needs to probably win at least one game at the SEC tournaments to give itself a good shot at the four seeds.
And yeah, I think that's probably, I think that's probably the minimum work required for, for Arkansas to get onto that four line.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: In some of Arkansas's losses this year. John Caliperi has said afterward that he felt like whoever their opponent was, it's happened a few times, but that the opponent just kind of came in more desperate or hungrier or needing a win more and, and played that way and, and Arkansas wasn't competing the same same way.
With that in mind, what is Missouri playing for right now in terms of SEC tournament as well as NCAA tournament? What does kind of the outlook look like for them and what do they need out of this game? Are they, do you think it's possible that they're going to come in, you Know, with that desperation that Arkansas might not have at the same level possibly,
[00:18:47] Speaker B: you know, so the thing with Missouri is, you know, it. It's still alive. That double buy, it could still slide into that four seed. So, so there, there's a very real world in which Missouri wins and get some other results to go its way to get that double die, which would be very big for, you know, it's, it's NCAA tournament prospects as well.
And you know, you mentioned the, the games.
There's two games, I think in particular that, that Arkansas, you know, John Cal Perry said coming into him that, you know, the other team was a little bit more desperate and that's Auburn on the road and Georgia. And I think those are the two losses that you're looking at that, you know, aren't, you know, both teams project as at least on the bubble, you know, as much as I don't think Auburn should be on the bubble, you know, it is. That's just the reality of it. And Georgia is solidly probably in the field at this point, but it's been kind of bubbly at different times.
But, you know, those aren't losses that you really want to take. You know, even though both were on the road and then, you know, the Kentucky game at home, you know, it's not like any. Arkansas doesn't have any bad losses. They're just losses that other teams like on those, on those four, three, four lines don't really have at this point in time. Like, I mean, Iowa State lost, I believe, to Cincinnati, which Cincinnati has really turned it around of late. You know, so there are some comparable things, but, you know, with regard to Missouri, you know, still, the, the double buy is still in play. You know, it's. There's a chance for that. And then, you know, it's still. Missouri needs to maybe not needs to maybe is a little bit strong of a way to put it, but is. Is looking to play itself off the bubble as much as it can. And I think last time I saw a projection, Missouri was last four buys, which means it's at this stage of the season, safe. Ish. But you don't want to get into a situation where, you know, bubble, bubble or I guess bid Steelers from like the Mountain west or, you know, even if, you know, some team goes on a run and gets hot in the SEC and stills a bit or something like that, you don't want to be in a situation where you're close enough to the bubble where it's like you're. You're kind of starting to shake on selection Sunday. So there, there's a lot to play for on the Missouri, I mean, on both ends. But on the Missouri side of it, I think that's what you look at is, you know, trying to get the double buy and then also play yourself as much off the bubble as you
[00:21:17] Speaker A: can before I let you get back to log boat and enjoying an extra something. For me, I, I think, you know, we already talked about Auburn at Alabama having consequences for Arkansas and that being a game to pay attention to. But what other games on this last day of the SEC season are you going to be looking at or think people should be paying attention to?
[00:21:36] Speaker B: So, I mean, look at, you know, Texas plays at Oklahoma. You know, obviously Red river is kind of, you know, it's obviously always going to be a big game. You know, Oklahoma is not a tournament team, but Texas is still kind of last four buys. So if Texas goes and loses that game, that becomes a really interesting, you know, space for Texas. Florida plays at Kentucky, which is kind of a good game, I guess, kind of on paper. Kentucky's trying to play itself into its as good of a tournament seed as it can.
You know, it's not going to get a double buy in the SEC tournament and you know, it's not going to get into the top 16 seeds for the NCAA tournament. But you know, that's still, you know, a game where, you know, Kentucky is, you know, being inconsistent this season and kind of needs, you know, a result to kind of boost its own resume, kind of get back off, you know, get, get some positive momentum going heading into the postseason.
You know, Texas A M's at lsu, that, that game kind of stinks.
But you know, A M probably in the field if things ended today.
Vanderbilt is kind of an interesting one. You know, Vanderbilt, Tennessee is probably the game of the weekend in the sec, you know, at Knoxville. And obviously it's the in state rivalry and all that, you know, Tennessee has, or Vanderbilt, excuse me, has lost three of five. So it's kind of been a little bit of a slide and still kind of alive for those top four seeds in the NCAA tournament. You know, it's not going to get the double buy in the SEC tournament, but it could in theory get, you know, one of the top four seeds in the NCAA tournament. Though I don't think it will. You know, a win against Tennessee in Knoxville would go a long way towards potentially at least giving itself a chance for that. And then, you know, you want the stinker of the weekend, it's South Carolina, Ole Miss, Both those teams are hard to watch.
No disrespect. Disrespect.
I think I honestly probably went through every game of the weekend, so. Sorry.
[00:23:40] Speaker A: No, it's okay. That. Hey, it's a helpful guide. It's a helpful little. Here's what to pay attention to. Here's what. What. Not so much to take a look at unless you just.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: If we're watching South Carolina versus Ole Miss, you. You're a sick individual, and I want to be your friend.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: I was going to say that's the kind of thing you would be doing, though. So you can. You can't touch too much.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: No, no, no. That's why I added the caveat. If you're. If you're watching that game, you're sick, and I want to be your friend.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: You're sick in the same way as Anthony, so take a little bit of comfort in that.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: Maybe if you want to, like. If you want to know the games I've been watching this week, Michigan versus Iowa last night didn't even flip it. That's not a lie or. That is a lie. I did kind of watch it a little bit, but I was watching Arch Madness, the Missouri Valley tournament. I was watching Evansville versus Northern Iowa last night. I was. I was flipping on Holy Cross versus Lehigh. Come on. That buzzer beater at the end. Crazy.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: I have a soft spot for Lehigh because that year that they beat Duke, I picked Lehigh. I was one of the select few, and I. I literally only. Oh, yeah. It's like my biggest, like, sports win ever. It's the greatest thing I've ever done.
Just. Just because I didn't like Duke. And so I was like. I mean, I. I don't remember what year that was. I was not really paying attention to basketball.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: Oh, I remember that year. It was. It was. I believe it was 2012, if I'm not mistaken. Let me. Let me double check that.
Now I'm invested. I want to figure this out.
[00:24:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I would have been young enough that I was not really paying attention, and so I would just. Yes, it was choosing the bracket on Vibes.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: You know, it was the. It was the 2012 year they. Yeah, Lehigh. Yeah.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:09] Speaker B: That Lehigh team.
The C.J. mcCollum special. That game was crazy.
That was the same year.
Not. Not to. Not to cut you off, but that was the same year that Missouri lost to Norfolk State. That was. That was a crazy tournament. I remember that. I remember vividly that tournament in particular, because I got three of the four Final Four teams and the National Championship and the national champion.
Correct. The one Final Four team that I didn't get was. I had Missouri in the Final Four, but it lost to Norfolk State in the first round.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: That's so funny.
Yeah, that's. That's memorable. That stands out. Did you win the bracket pool?
[00:25:47] Speaker B: Yes, I did, but I did win the bracket pool.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: I was gonna say it would have been hard not to win with that lineup, but yes.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: No, I. I think I won like 25 or something.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Hey, when you're like, what were we, like, 13 then? That counts.
[00:25:59] Speaker B: 13 year old me was going to scream shop.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that's perfect.
Well, Anthony, thank you so much for joining us. I hope you enjoy the time in our old stomping grounds. And we'll see you back here to get ready for SEC tournament time when you're getting ready to travel out to Nashville for it.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: That'll be fun. I booked the hotel today, but yeah, perfect. Good. Good times ahead.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: Well, thanks everybody. Yeah, thanks everybody for tuning in. I hope you have a great weekend. And you can find all of our coverage of the men's basketball game, softball, baseball, gymnastics, everything that's going on on campus this weekend. We will have everything you need@whole hogsports.com and we'll see you next week.
