Arkansas To Face Former Hogs Head Coach in Latest Mock NCAA Tournament
The magical month of March is just on the horizon, and Arkansas finally picked up a marquee home win against No. 15 Missouri inside a packed Bud Walton Arena on Saturday night.
All five starters reached double figures as the Hogs overcame a seven-point halftime deficit for a 92-85 victory, avenging their earlier loss to the Tigers in January.
Not only was this a much-needed win for a fanbase that had, up to this point, been deprived of a big-time win in Fayetteville, but it was also a massive addition to the Razorbacks’ NCAA tournament resume as they make a desperate push to earn an invite to the Big Dance. Behind the nation’s 19th-best defense, the Hogs have risen to 36th in the KenPom rankings with a 16-11 (5-9) record.
Due to how historically strong the SEC is this year, most analysts agree that even just getting to seven or eight conference wins should be enough to get into the field for the SEC’s tournament hopefuls. Vanderbilt, Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia are all on the bubble alongside Arkansas.
Despite how rough this year has been for the Hogs, they actually boast a decent tournament resume at this point. They’re 11-0 against Quad 3 and 4 opponents, 1-2 against Quad 2 opponents and 4-9 inside Quad 1 with wins over Michigan, Texas, Kentucky and now Missouri. Their next two games will be in Quad 2 vs. Texas and at South Carolina, but they’ll have two more Quad 1 opportunities at Vanderbilt and vs. Mississippi State to close out the regular season.
Texas and South Carolina are pretty much must-win games for Arkansas that would put it in a decent spot for an NCAA Tournament bid. Winning one of those Quad 1 games on top of that would pretty much lock in its bid. JBR Bracketology, a renowned “college hoops junkie” on Twitter, said the Hogs have “at least a 50-50 shot” to get in with a 7-11 conference record, but “would be a lock” if they can get to eight wins
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has Arkansas in the “last four in” – specifically, as the second-to-last team in the field. That would have the Razorbacks as an 11-seed with a play-in game to reach the First Round. Texas and Vanderbilt are among the teams just ahead of them in the “last four byes” category, setting up some fantastic fights to the death in the next two weeks that could evoke certain bubble wand wrestlers:
While Lunardi is the household name in the science – or, more accurately, the alchemy – of bracketology, the latest projections from On3 prove much more interesting for Arkansas, with its projected first-round opponent providing a fascinating opportunity for revenge against the shortest tenured Head Hog in program history.
On3 Forecasts Not-So-Friendly Reunion for Arkansas Basketball
On3’s resident bracketologist James Fletcher has Arkansas as a 10 seed heading up to Milwaukee to face off against the 7th-seeded Oregon Ducks from the Big Ten. That’s right, Oregon basketball coach Dana Altman would find himself facing the music against the Razorbacks in an enticing March Madness opener.
Altman, now age 66, was once a mid-major standout looking to hitch his wagon to a bigger program. For a while after Stan Heath’s firing in 2007, it appeared those greener grasses would be in Fayetteville. Altman infamously agreed to become Arkansas’ head coach only to change his mind less than 24 hours later and return to his post as Creighton’s head coach. The Hogs held an introductory press conference and everything, featuring the most notoriously awkward and cringy Hog call in recorded history:
Hope you enjoyed all 12 pixels of that video. Altman’s hiring was supposed to cap off a hectic coaching search by then UA athletic director Frank Broyles that included conversations with none other than Kansas head coach Bill Self and then-Memphis coach…John Calipari. Time is a flat circle.
Instead, Arkansas ended up turning to John Pelphrey, who led the program for four seasons in an unsuccessful tenure. Altman, meanwhile, coached at Creighton for three more seasons before finally moving on to his brighter lights in Oregon, where he’s been for the last 15 years.
Unlike other former Arkansas basketball coaches, Altman has thrived in his new home. He led the Oregon basketball program to four Pac-12 regular-season titles to go with four Sweet 16 appearances, two Elite Eights and a Final Four in 2017.
This season, he’s managed Oregon’s transition to the Big Ten remarkably well. Heading into Sunday’s games, the Ducks sat at eighth in the conference standings with a 20-8 overall record (9-8 in Big Ten play). Oregon is just ahead of Arkansas at 34th in KenPom, and it boasts an impressive eight Quad 1 wins – tied for second-most in the nation.
After Altman spurned the Hogs, then-UA chancellor John White said that he hoped the wishy-washy coach’s path would cross with Arkansas’ someday.
“I’m looking forward to meeting you in the Final Four and beating the socks off you,” White said.
Arkansas and Oregon have only met three times in history. The first was an Elite Eight matchup in 1945 that saw the Hogs reach their second Final Four in program history. The other two matchups came from a home-and-home series in 1989-90, which Arkansas swept.
While the first round isn’t quite the Final Four, it’s at least avoiding the First Four – which would also be a fine accomplishment for these Hogs. This predicted NCAA Tournament showdown between the Razorbacks and the Ducks would finally fulfill White’s prophecy for revenge after Altman’s infamous 180.
Altman the Rare Former Head Hog to Reach Greater Heights
Altman’s success at Oregon puts him in rare company among former Arkansas coaches as someone who actually reached greater heights in their career after leaving Fayetteville.
Let’s go through some of them in joyous detail:
John Pelphrey was relegated to being an assistant coach for a combined eight years at Florida and Alabama before taking the head coaching job at Tennessee Tech, in the Ohio Valley Conference. Currently in his sixth season with the Golden Eagles, he’s compiled a mediocre 55-109 record and has yet to record a winning season.
His predecessor, Stan Heath, has also struggled in his life after Arkansas. Once considered a rising star in the coaching ranks after taking lowly Kent State to an Elite Eight, Heath never lived up to expectations during his time at Arkansas. He compiled a measly 82-71 record over five seasons, failing to win an NCAA Tournament game.
After his dismissal, he took over as head coach at South Florida for a seven-year stint. He peaked with an NCAA Tournament berth in 2012 that earned him the honor of Big East Coach of the Year, but he was dismissed after two straight losing seasons. He’s now in Year 4 at Eastern Michigan, where he’s compiled a 44-75 record.
Mike Anderson had legacy status with Arkansas after serving as an assistant coach under Nolan Richardson, and he had built up quite a head coaching resume of his own during stints at UAB and Missouri, where he took the Blazers to a Sweet 16 and the Tigers to an Elite Eight. But his time as the Head Hog never quite lived up to its prodigal-son potential. Anderson made the Big Dance just three times in his eight-year stint in charge, posting three top-four SEC finishes but failing to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
After Arkansas, he spent four seasons as head coach at St. John’s, posting a winning record each year but failing to reach the NCAA Tournament. St. John’s tossed Anderson to the curb once the opportunity to hire the legendary Rick Pitino presented itself, and the athletic department tried its best to snake Anderson out of his buyout money by initially firing him for cause. Anderson took St. John’s to court and won a settlement. The exact amount of the verdict was undisclosed, but Anderson was seeking a total of $45.6 million – the $11.4 million in his buyout plus $34.2 million in punitive damages.
Anderson was actually in attendance for Saturday’s game against Missouri, a matchup between two of his former employers – though it can safely be assumed he was rooting for Arkansas. He was part of the halftime recognition of the 1990 Final Four team, coaches and support staff. Nolan Richardson, Todd Day and many others were recognized. Anderson received the second-loudest applause from the crowd, behind Richardson, of course.
Lanny Van Eman coached the Hogs for four seasons in the early 1970s, implementing an exciting brand of up-tempo, high-scoring basketball led by legendary floor general Martin Terry – but defensive deficiencies always held his teams back. He only posted one winning season before he was ushered out of the door when the great Eddie Sutton came to town. Van Eman found some later success as an assistant coach in the college and professional ranks, but he never quite made it as a head coach.
As for Sutton, he infamously “crawled” to Kentucky after his incredible 11-year run in which he turned Arkansas basketball into a national power. While his tenure with the Wildcats didn’t go as well as many expected, Sutton — who, ironically enough, first came into fame as the Creighton head coach — eventually found success at Oklahoma State. He led his alma mater to a pair of Final Fours and numerous appearances in the Big Dance. Finally, just before his death in 2020, Sutton was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The jury is still out on Eric Musselman, whose USC Trojans took a big hit to their NCAA Tournament chances with a loss at Rutgers on Sunday and are currently sitting with a 14-13 record. But it’s only Year 1 of the Muss Bus in Los Angeles, so it’s far too early to judge.
But for now, Altman remains the only living former Head Hog to reach his greatest head coaching success after his stint at Arkansas – however short-lived that time was.
If these projections end up coming true, the Hogs will finally have a chance to knock Altman down a peg and get some revenge over the embarrassing debacle from 18 years ago. They can also avenge Altman’s poaching of Arkansas native and five-star center Kel’el Ware in 2022, though it wasn’t until he transferred to Indiana that he defied his reputation for laziness and became a first round pick in the NBA Draft. Perhaps Altman can use some of the oh-so-sweet Phil Knight Nike money to buy some tissues for his crocodile tears.
Because if this mock becomes reality, he’ll find out again that Hell hath no fury like a Hog scorned.
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Eric Musselman Complains about East Coast Travel
It’s as if it he had no idea this was waiting for him when he left Arkansas for the USC job:
