Saturday, January 4, finally arrived and with it – SEC ball. The Razorbacks’ fanbase had impatiently waited for John Calipari to right a ship that, while far from sunk, had certainly shrunk (literally down to a measly, coupla players), ever since Eric Musselman’s hasty, yet punctual, departure from the program.
True to form, Coach Cal had taken on all comers, as he and his patchwork team forged the waters of a tougher-than-normal-non-conference itinerary, duking it out with some ranked teams along the way and coming out on top more times than not – in and outta the friendly confines of Bud Walton Arena.
And then lo and behold, this season’s inaugural SEC foe was #1 ranked Tennessee in Knoxville. Might as well find out just how tall you are by jumping in the middle of the river on day one. Since this Razorbacks squad had faced some decent D1 teams – Kansas, Michigan, Illinois and Baylor, it only seemed logical that the upset tree just might be ripe for the picking.
You may call me a dreamer, but I wasn’t the only one.
Ha! Dream on.
Scheduled for a high-noon tipoff, an Arkansas dub was to set the stage for a magical season and new year. The two teams were tied, 12-12, at the first media timeout. Then it was 21-12, and then it was over. The Hogs never managed to close the gap to less than double digits and essentially got run smooth outta Thompson-Boling Arena. The halftime conversation at Airport Rd. was reduced to counting possible possessions and deducing just how we were going to overcome that 15-point deficit in only 20 minutes of play. High-level math, fosho.
In this newly-christened year of 2025, the landscape of college hoops is vastly different than before. Sure, the Bluedevils of Duke are back and hovering around the top five, led by freshman-sensation Cooper Flagg. But as a whole, the traditionally tough ACC is down, and it surely seems like the SEC seamlessly slid into their gilded high-tops like Cinderella at the ball. Now, its best teams are moonwalking atop Tobacco Road and the entire atlas of NCAA basketball. Heck, halfa the teams in the Top 10 hail from the mighty, mighty SEC, and there are more scattered throughout the Top 25.
While the other side of this two-headed, wooden nickel is NCAA football, and it looks just as odd. This is the first year the powers-to-be allowed a dozen teams into their usually quaint, end-of-the-year affair, and the extra eight brought their fair share of parity to the potluck – a dish best served cold.
Once the current playoff system was implemented, and teams from the SEC began winning the vast majority of the big trophies; well, that did not digest properly with the rest of the college football world, so they bucked up and tried to compete. But nothing really worked.
Oddly, in the end all they had to do was kick back and allow the greed of humankind to run rampant, rule the day, ruin the run and ride the rut. We had a word for them back in Little League baseball, what was it? Oh yeah – rally killers.
Today the SEC has swollen to 16 legit teams, and that is simply too many. Each and every week they all go to war against an equally funded and professionally prepared and outfitted program, and it takes a toll, especially in football. But try to explain that to Greg Sankey and the resta them money-hungry fools in the ATL.
So, the road to reward is riddled with ridiculous amounts of talent. Too much? Some say so, while others say no. What say you?
Until then WOOOOoooo….
RIP GBS (10.4.1966-12.16.24). Adios, amigo.