We used to be good

[hog tied]

The Razorbacks move to the SEC seems to be the excuse some want to make for the Hogs so that they can justify not having as good a record as they had back in their SWC days. Granted, the SEC is one of the premiere conferences, and has produced national champions in the three major sports within the last ten years (Kentucky basketball, LSU football and baseball, Florida, football) But, the SWC that Arkansas played in when Lou Holtz and Ken Hatfield coached as well as Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson's teams in basketball was a solid conference. The SWC had the perenial also rans in basketball TCU, T-Tech, Rice, etc. but during the 80's Houston went to the Final Four twice, SMU had All-American John Koncak and Larry Johnson for a while, as well as Texas was very good back in the late 80's and early 90's. Essentially, half the conference was good and the other half was not. In football, SMU had the pony express, Texas was consistently good, A&M was a major threat, Houston had the run and shoot with Andre Ware, and even Baylor was good a couple of years. The Razorbacks backed down from no one, even in years that they were underdogs.

The move to the SEC was supposed to be step up in expectations and results. We brought that in basketball for a while, namely 1993-1995 (94 title), and in one season in 1998 in football. Now we are reduced to consistently 6-5 or worse, even pleading for 7-4. The low point for me was personally witnessing the massacre in Los Angeles. The USC fans laughed at our fans as well walked into the stadium and gave us about as much consideration as the trash they stepped over on the way out of the Colliseum as they left. We have no swagger, nor do we deserve to show any. Teams do not fear us, and in many cases don't even think about us. We are to the top tier of the SEC in basketball and in football what Rice and TCU used to be to us. Teams do not have to bring their A-game to beat us, they just have to get by and not trip up in the process.

While the SEC is better top to bottom than the SWC, still yet I can't help but think we used to be good and teams did not want to play us. Now they schedule us for homecoming.             

               

[kremlinhog]

not a broyles fan, but when i started attending games in  1960 the hogs had a hard time in the swc. it became a patsy conference for us because we had
a real football coach who made the conference his whipping boy
after a few seasons.
so to some of you be a little careful when talking about the old swc. we need a coach who can do the same thing with the sec-we are down like the hogs in
the late fifties and we need a broyles type who can make the sec his whipping boy.

think it cant be done, most of you hate him but spurrier did the same thing at florida that frank did in the sixties in arkansas, made a losing school dominant in a diffucult conferenc.

and i agree we used to be not only good, but great