John & Tommy discuss the MLB’s fallen popularity, summer seg of the day, plus Tom Murphy joins the show!
Hogs’ schedule looks daunting now, but things tend to change
If there’s anything to be learned from years of covering college football at the highest level is these summer rankings usually don’t mean a whole lot by the end of September.
Right now, Arkansas has five teams in ESPN’s Way Too Early Top 25 on the schedule … but how many will even be in the rankings by the end of September?
That’s when things will start to get interesting.
One thing Razorback fans can sort of count on is they’ll have an idea whether to get their hopes up by then or start looking forward to Eric Musselman’s first basketball team.
If this team hasn’t eclipsed last year’s two wins by the time everybody assembles in AT&T Stadium for the annual game with Texas A&M, then it’s a good bet it will be a thin group calling the Hogs at the end of September.
Thank you, Michigan. If a team ever needed some easy games in September this is it and they would be playing the Wolverines if they hadn’t cancelled the series to play Notre Dame.
Don’t talk about attractive home matchups. After the last two years, fans will take a win over anybody at home. It’s been that thin.
Outside of a few psychotic internet trolls, it’s not out of the realm of possibility the Hogs go to Arlington sitting at 4-0. Let’s be objective here, the game with Ole Miss in week two is a toss-up.
If the Aggies are, well, get ready for a dogfight in the SEC West because that means they will have beaten Clemson on the road and Auburn the week before.
The guess here is A&M, ranked No. 12 the early ESPN rankings, will be — at best — 3-1 and won’t have a chance to do any early preparations for the Razorbacks or they will be 2-2.
Auburn has some talent, but not a lot of playmakers at the positions that I’ve found to be the most imporant — playmakers.
By the time Gus Malzahn’s team heads to College Station, they could already have a loss (opening against No. 10 Oregon) and it’s already a paranoid atmosphere around what has become a completely dysfunctional program.
The Hogs have Kentucky, Auburn and Alabama in October and the only guarantee there is they won’t lose four games that month. The Crimson Tide will be one of the top two teams in the country at that point.
Auburn could be reeling. They play Oregon, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Florida before the Hogs and LSU the next week in Baton Rouge. Malzahn should get coach of the year, in my opinion, if he goes 8-4 this year, but it wouldn’t be shocking if he’s gone by Halloween.
The team most folks are discounting how far they slide is Kentucky, who hosts the Hogs on October 12. To me THAT is the game that’s going to tell us how this season could be.
The Wildcats lost their best playmakers on both sides of the ball to the NFL, which is something you couldn’t say very often about football in Lexington.
November is a month where the Hogs have Western Kentucky after an earlier matchup with Mississippi State. What Joe Moorhead does in his second year is up for debate, even with some fans in Starkville who are scratching their heads over eight wins with four players in the first 44 taken in the NFL Draft.
At the end is Missouri, a team that can’t go to a bowl game, lost starting quarterback Drew Lock, who personally beat the Hogs two of the last three years.
Last year, Arkansas just showed up in Columbia, but Lock led comebacks in 2016 and 2017 that effectively put the bookends on Bret Bielema’s tenure in Fayetteville. He didn’t have to perform any heroics last year.
And LSU.
A story broke Friday at Yahoo Sports about an LSU fan allegedly paying the father of a player a rather large sum of cash.
While it apparently doesn’t involve Ed Orgeron directly, he’s going to have to pay the price for it, regardless. Experience has shown just the NCAA’s snooping can crash a program more than any sanctions they hand out.
No, there won’t be a prediction here on number of wins this season. We haven’t even seen the players in T-shirts and shorts yet.
But it might not be as grim as many think right now.
Why strength of schedule doesn’t matter … and never really has
During what former coach Steve Spurrier called “talking season,” many have taken to talking about SEC teams’ strength of schedule, which is borderline ridiculous.
Because they are in the league they have a mine field already strong enough.
Honestly, what do you want? In a world where getting to play for the championship is a popularity contest as much as anything, why anyone in the SEC would WANT to play a big time non-conference opponent is ridiculous.
In Arkansas’ case, they got a break a few years ago when Michigan paid off the UA so it could play Notre Dame. That meant they get some folks they can beat in a time of rebuilding.
Ranking the SEC’s schedules back in May, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli had a valid point that “Arkansas’ schedule gets a slight boost because, unlike its SEC West counterparts, the Hogs don’t have Arkansas dragging their SOS down a bit.”
Yes, it is at that level right now.
Still, it’s fourth in the league in the rankings behind South Carolina (they play Clemson, Alabama and Georgia in the same season), then Georgia (Notre Dame plus Auburn and Texas A&M from the West) and the Aggies are third (Alabama and road games against Georgia and Clemson).
Clemson could have more SEC wins than some teams in the league.
Alabama is dead last in the league’s strength of schdule with, uh, Duke as the headliner out of conference. Yeah, well, that’s what every coach in the league should be doing, in my opinion.
You can talk all you want, but in the end the strength of schedule doesn’t matter one little bit if you have two losses at the end of the year. There’s still no guarantee a two-loss SEC team will get into the four-team finale.
That includes an A&M loss to, say Clemson and Alabama, then the Crimson Tide stumbling twice in the league. That would put the Aggies in Atlanta and, based on the College Football Playoff’s selection history, they would be in a bowl game that didn’t matter.
It’s easy to say what the CFP SHOULD do, but there’s no precedent for them putting a two-loss team in the Final Four.
Under the previous scenario, for example, you can see where A&M wins a SEC title game matchup against an undefeated Georgia team and it’s the Bulldogs playing for a national title. While the CFP has conference title as a “factor,” it’s not a “requirement” for deciding anything.
Oh, I’m not saying there wouldn’t be a complete uproar in the league and across the college football world, but it’s a possibility I honestly could see happening.
It’s not out of character. Alabama won a national title in 2017 after not winning the league’s championship game, but deciding the league crown in the overtime win over Georgia.
You want more than four teams to play for the national championship? Let that scenario play out.
Which is, actually, good for college football.
It’s the one sport where there can be arguments made almost every single year that the best team didn’t win the national championship.
And it’s been that way for, oh, more than a century.
It’s also the biggest college sport for about the last 150 years or so. A lot of that popularity has been fueled by arguments about an arbitrary process for the history of the sport in choosing a national champion.
Do you think that’s an accident?
???? Friday Halftime Pod — featuring Aaron Torres
Phil & Tye discuss if you can play two sports in college, Aaron Torres pops in with NBA draft knowledge, and more!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday
John & Tommy discuss if Gafford should have stayed another year, Justice Hill news, plus Corey Williams joins the show!
Gafford selected by Bulls in second round of Thursday’s NBA draft
Former Arkansas forward Daniel Gafford was chosen by Chicago with the 38th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night.
He is the first player picked in the draft since his mentor, Bobby Portis, who was chosen in the first round of the 2015 draft by, coincidentally, the Bulls.
Gafford was a projected first-rounder before the 2018-19 season, but didn’t develop as some projected. With most of his points coming on dunks and layups, reportedly some teams view him as a project.
He averaged 14.3 points per game over his two seasons with the Razorbacks, shooting 63.5 percent from the floor (second in school history) and a school-record 62.1 percent in SEC games.
The Justice Hill drama continues with basketball roster moves
Justice Hill’s drama continues after he flip-flopped in his own announcement.
Thursday morning, he tweeted that his name is now in the mysterious NCAA’s transfer portal … for basketball. Then he said, well, football might still be in the picture.
I have no future comments right now. pic.twitter.com/OqCzJXTFwa
— Justice Hill (@_justicehill) June 20, 2019
He also added that he has no further comment.
It was just a few weeks ago everybody had a source and, apparently, the first report by Trey Schaap of The Buzz in Little Rock was accurate … right up until somebody else had a source disputing that.
All of this was coming on the heels of Chad Morris giving the indication that Hill would be taking part in some of the Razorbacks’ spring football practices.
The men’s basketball roster for the Razorbacks updated Thursday with Hill not on the list as well as former walk-on Jonathan Holmes and Kahlil Garland.
Garland will become a student assistant, not being medically cleared to play. He will remain on scholarship, but not count towards the 13 allowed by the NCAA.
The two roster moves opens a scholarship spot for the Hogs, including a transfer for Eric Musselman’s first team that can help immediately.
Hill was recruited and signed by former coach Mike Anderson after leading his Little Rock Christian team to the Class 5A state championship in football. He was immediately redshirted.
Late last month is when the first report he would not be back surfaced, which was dismissed by some in the media based on some source after the tease with the football team.
Apparently, his future at Arkansas rests with a discussion with Morris and the football staff.
Exactly where he would fit there is speculative at best.
???? Thursday Halftime Pod — featuring Kevin McPherson
Phil & Tye hit on Justice Hill entering the transfer portal, interview Kevin McPherson, and more!
Noland makes decision to drop football, play baseball full time
In a move that has been discussed and rumored about for awhile, freshman Connor Noland will no longer try to play two sports and focuse on baseball for Arkansas.
He made the announcement Thursday morning on Twitter:
No matter which sport I play I’ll always be a Razorback! #Omahogs@RazorbackFB @RazorbackBSB @ArkRazorbacks pic.twitter.com/rheD4xpt3W
— Connor Noland (@cnoland_13) June 20, 2019
“My dad always told me that I wouldn’t be the one picking which sport I would finally focus on, he said the sport would pick me,” Noland said in the tweet.
That is now the case, despite his abilities in football where he won one of the two games the Razorbacks played last season and the coaches had liked his talent and capabilities there.
But baseball, he felt, was the best path for him, which Dave Van Horn liked.
Van Horn’s statement:
“We’re happy for Connor. We know this decision wasn’t easy, as his love for both sports has been apparent since we first met him. We’re happy that he was able to come to this decision on his own with his family. Thank you to coach Chad Morris for allowing Connor to achieve his dream of playing both football and baseball at the University of Arkansas. I look forward to working with Connor this summer and into the fall as we get ready for our 2020 season.”
You knew the baseball ability was there as he ended up with a weekend starting spot from the first series and appeared to improve after football spring practice.
Despite missing all of fall practice and having only a handful of intrasquad scrimmages under his belt, Noland earned a spot in Arkansas’ weekend rotation for the opening series of the baseball season.
He ended up making a team-high 19 starts and one relief appearance, finishing the season 3-5 with a 4.02 ERA, 55 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 78 1/3 innings. Only ace Isaiah Campbell threw more innings than Noland.
Those numbers aren’t spectacular, but he got a lot better down the stretch. It seemingly coincided with the end of spring football, as he attempted to pull double duty.
Against Vanderbilt the week after football practice ended, Noland couldn’t get an out and gave up five runs, then finished with 33 strikeouts and four walks in 45 innings the rest of the way with a 2.60 ERA.
As far as football, he feels he’s leaving the team in pretty good shape in a crowded room with Ben Hicks, Nick Starkel, KJ Jefferson, John Stephen Jones, Daulton Hyatt and Jack Lindsey on the roster now and Chandler Morris coming in 2020.
Chad Morris’ statement:
“We’re excited for Connor and his future in baseball. He’s a tremendous competitor, an outstanding athlete and a Razorback who will succeed in anything he does. I can’t wait to be in the seats at Baum-Walker next spring to watch him pitch.”
“The Razorback QB room is full of very talented players I will definitely miss being there with everyone,” Noland tweeted.
Noland and Jones were the only returning quarterbacks to throw a pass in a game last season. Noland was 12-of-41 with two interceptions and Jones appeared in three games, completed 2-of-8 passes.
Many thought playing time was likely to be difficult for Noland in football and he made the choice to stick with baseball.
Van Horn has said on a couple of occasions he felt Noland would be helped by playing baseball fulltime, particularly with his fastball.
Now there will be no more questions.
Musselman names Nevada assistant as Hogs’ director of operations
FAYETTEVILLE — Anthony Ruta has been named director of men’s basketball operations, coach Eric Musselman announced Thursday.
Ruta worked the past four years on Nevada’s staff.
The duo’s partnership goes back to the 2013-14 season when Musselman was an assistant coach at Arizona State and Ruta served as a graduate assistant with the Sun Devils.
At Nevada, Ruta was initially brought on to be the director of basketball operations before being elevated to assistant coach his last two seasons with the Wolf Pack (2016-17 and 2017-18).
In his role as an assistant coach, his duties included scouting opponents, recruiting student-athletes and scheduling opponents.
In Ruta’s four years at Nevada, the Wolf Pack won at least 24 games all four years (24, 28, 29 and 29), won three Mountain West regular-season titles, won one conference tournament championship, made three NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet 16 berth, and won the 2016 CBI championship.
During his time as an assistant coach at Nevada, the Wolf Pack won 29 games each season, tying a school record and marking the programs’ best two-year run in school history.
Nevada won the Mountain West championship twice and earned at-large berths to the NCAA Tournament each year. Last season, Nevada was 29-5, was ranked among the nation’s top 25 all season and finished 20th in the final AP poll/23rd in the USA Today coaches poll.
The previous year, Nevada reached the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history, was 29-8 and was ranked all but two weeks throughout the season before finishing 20th in the coaches final poll/24th by AP.
In his first two seasons at Nevada, the Wolf Pack went 28-7 in 2015-16, won Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles and earned the program’s first NCAA berth in 10 years.
Ruta helped the Pack go from nine wins prior to his arrival to 24 in year one and Nevada won the CBI Championship, which was the first postseason championship by a Mountain West or Nevada team.
Prior to coming to Nevada, Ruta was an assistant coach with Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. He assisted in all areas with Mad Ants that included in-game coaching and practice preparation.
His primary responsibilities were defensive game planning. Working with the guards and wings he coached NBA veteran Dahntay Jones and D-League All-Star game MVP Andre Emmett.
Ruta began his coaching career at his alma mater, Arizona State, where he was a graduate assistant for two seasons. The Sun Devils advanced to the postseason both years playing in the NCAA and NIT Championships.
While at ASU he assisted in scouting and game preparation. Additional duties included assisting in scheduling, team workouts primarily with the guards, team travel and summer camps.
He also oversaw the team managers, organized the recruiting database and served as the academics and facilities liaison.
As an undergraduate student at ASU, Ruta was the head student manager for two seasons. He assisted with the daily operations of the Sun Devils basketball program which included workouts.
Additionally, he worked summer camps and organized the team managers.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John & Tommy discuss a former Hog on Chad Morris, Nick Mason on Daniel Gafford’s NBA projections, Richard Davenport with a recruiting update and more!
