BIG WEEK FOR HOGS, BUT DON’T GET TOO EXCITED

By Jay Lupo/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

It was a good week for John Pelphrey’s Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Hogs picked up two convincing victories over ranked opponents in Bud Walton Arena and got back in the mix for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth during the last seven days.

Arkansas throttled SEC West rival and No. 25 Mississippi State 78-58 on Wednesday, then followed with an 80-61 thrashing of No. 20 Florida on Saturday. Coupled with the Bulldogs’ loss to Tennessee just hours after the Hogs whipped the Gators, Pelphrey’s team now sits tied for first place in the Western Division.

That’s the good news.

And while there’s really no bad news to report, I think it’s safe to say the jury is still out on this group of Razorbacks.

I don’t know about you, but I love Arkansas basketball. I can thank former head coach Nolan Richardson and my father, who took me to the 1994 and 1995 Final Fours and countless SEC Tournaments, for that. And so many times with this specific team my hopes have gone through the roof, thinking they’re the ones who are going to get Razorbacks basketball back where it belongs — near the top of the national map. And so many times, my hopes have been crushed and I’ve fallen back to reality with a thud.

That’s the old me. And if I were still like that, that’s where I’d be right now. Sky high, just knowing Pelphrey’s Hogs are about to take off, win the West and make a run in the Big Dance.

But as Arkansas-Monticello head coach Mike Newell would say: “I’m a grizzled veteran, now.”

And I am. With this team I’m a “grizzled” vet. They’ve made me that way.

I think Arkansas’ performance of late is what it is, so to speak. It’s typical. Lifeless losses at home to South Carolina and on the road at Georgia were backed up by thrilling wins over ranked teams.

Simply put, there’s no way to know what’s going to happen with this team. But what they accomplished last week was absolutely huge.

To start, Arkansas’ SEC schedule was probably the easiest in the league through five games, and the Razorbacks managed just a 3-2 record. Things didn’t look good.

Going into last week, the schedule started to get really rough. Mississippi State featured some of the best players in the league and it had ripped off nine straight wins before running into the Hogs. Florida was vastly overrated, but the young Gators are still one of the SEC’s most talented and well-coached teams.

Playing, as usual, with their backs against the wall, the Razorbacks responded by knocking off the Bulldogs and Gators to move to 5-2 in the SEC. They’re 16-5 overall now with a Rating Percentage Index rating of 31, according to RPI guru Ken Pomeroy.

That’s good. If they can just keep up that pace, they’ll finish 22-8, 11-5 and will probably at least tie for the SEC Western Division title. With a solid showing at the SEC Tournament, Arkansas could play itself all the way to a No. 4 or No. 5 seed, which might be good enough to play at Alltel Arena in March.

But is that really going to happen?

It’s too hard to tell with this helter-skelter bunch.

The schedule remains tough. All Arkansas did by beating Mississippi State and Florida was get off to a great start in this rough stretch. The Hogs’ next game is Ole Miss at home next Saturday — a must-win, by the way — then they’ll play at Tennessee on Feb. 13 and at Mississippi State on Feb. 16. If the Razorbacks lose to Ole Miss, a team that’ll come to Fayetteville with its own back against the wall, then don’t be surprised to see them sitting at 16-8, 5-5 a week later. Knoxville, Tenn., and Starkville, Miss., are two of the toughest places in the SEC to pick up victories.

After that, Arkansas hosts LSU then sets out for two more road contests at Kentucky and Alabama. The Razorbacks will host a Vanderbilt team that should be looking for some payback on March 1 and will close at Ole Miss and at home against Auburn.

There’s plenty of basketball to be played, and to be fair, it could go either way for any of the 12 teams in the league save Tennessee, which should be a major factor on the national level come March.

My guard is up, though. I’m excited about the last two wins. But at the same time, I’m realistic. I know there’s plenty of tough basketball ahead and that Arkansas could end up an NCAA bubble team like they were a year ago, or a very respectable seed.

The thing that I hope for is that Pelphrey gets this team to listen to him. The best thing that’s happened to Arkansas basketball this decade was Dana Altman backing out of the job after 24 hours and heading back to Creighton. That enabled Arkansas to hire Pelphrey, and he’ll be the guy to get the basketball program back where it belongs.

The only question: Will it be this year?

This team is capable of it. They’re capable of beating anybody they play. And they’re capable of making a good run in any tournament. Yet they’ve also shown they’re capable of losing to anybody — Appalachian State 74, Arkansas 67.

Will this team finally have the gusto to step up and realize its potential?

My prediction: 21-9, 10-6. That’ll be good enough for a No. 7-10 seed, depending on what the Hogs do in the SEC Tournament. But don’t bank on Alltel just yet.