No matter what happens tomorrow, how do you feel where the program is heading?

[Dirty]

With the recruits coming in i feel good.


What say you?

[mhsbc59]

Bout to be a top 15 program again

[East Clintwood]

Slightly better but still concerned.

[hoglady]

Proud of this team and the coaching staff.
Don't what happened that caused the horrible loss to Missouri followed by the loss to Vandy at home.
But they turned it around and started playing their best ball of the year.
Mike seems more engaged and fired up than I've seen him - recruiting is on a positive track.
High hopes for next years team - realize though we've got major pieces to replace (Moses, Hannahs and Manny).
Trending up.

[k.c.hawg]

In the last 3 years we've had a 27 win season and now a 26 win season. Finished 2nd in the league in both of those seasons. Showed the ability to do a quick overhaul after a 16-16 season. Recruiting is looking very good. Next season the schedule will be beefed up by playing in the Phil Knight Classic which is full of heavyweights!! I'd say the arrow is definitely pointing up.

[ThisTeetsTaken]

I feel it's just inconsistent.  Recruiting has to step up.  I'll feel better overall if we make the dance again next year but I'm not sure that is going to happen.  It will be tough.  If I'm the AD I'm not giving out any raises or extensions just yet.

[Danny J]

Certainly feel better about now than I did a month or so ago. The recruiting has improved no question but we must consistently recruit at that level going forward. The next big step, same goes for football, is winning a big game on a big stage.

[hobhog]

I feel it's just inconsistent.  Recruiting has to step up.  I'll feel better overall if we make the dance again next year but I'm not sure that is going to happen.  It will be tough.  If I'm the AD I'm not giving out any raises or extensions just yet.

Dancing next year would be huge. Winning tommorow would be gigantic......

[hogsanity]

Exactly where I thought it was headed the day mike was hired. A team that on average was on the bubble alot for the ncaat, would get in as often as not, and would occasionally make some noise by making a sweet 16 now and then. In other words, just like Mike as a coach, not bad but not great either, just good.

[GuvHog]

I feel a lot better about the men's basketball program than I felt a couple of months ago. It was good to see Mike totally turn around a program that for all purposes "fell off of a cliff" last year and get it back to the way it was in Portis's last year here so quickly. Now he has to continue to build on the program making it better and I believe he will.

[Inhogswetrust]

I feel it's just inconsistent.  Recruiting has to step up.  I'll feel better overall if we make the dance again next year but I'm not sure that is going to happen.  It will be tough.  If I'm the AD I'm not giving out any raises or extensions just yet.

I'd go one year extension and a small but decent raise. IF we beat NC then maybe two years and a better raise. Really good regular season and advance in the tourney I'd do even more after next year.

[cram224]

A good test coming up tomorrow. Have we narrowed the gap between us and the big boys. I can't remember the score the last time we played UNC, Roy Williams teams always look alike. Good test.

[Dominicanhog]

I'd go one year extension and a small but decent raise. IF we beat NC then maybe two years and a better raise. Really good regular season and advance in the tourney I'd do even more after next year.

[Razorod]

Much of next year depends on how we finish the 2017 recruiting cycle.

As it stands right now, with no additional attrition other than graduations, I don't think next year's team will be as good as this year's.

Fortunately, we have another scholarship to give. If a little used player transfers out we'd have two to give. One rumor is that we might be losing two players, which gives three scholarships.

Regardless of how many scholarships we'll have, we still need to upgrade the talent level of this team.

Zhaire Smith would be a good start. Even with Macon and Barford we need to upgrade the guard slot--a true point would be nice, perhaps Chris McNeal from Indian Hills?

Any way, this spring is important for next year if we want to be in the NCAA's next season and actually a player for the Sweet Sixteen or better.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

Dancing next year would be huge. Winning tommorow would be gigantic......

It has been 21 years since an Arkansas team advanced to the Sweet 16.  Not coincidentally it's been two decades since Arkansas Basketball has made a meaningful impact on the national scene.

CBS Sports in ranking Sundays NCAAT games put it this way:

SUNDAY 
#8 (of 8 games) No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Arkansas (South). Just don't think Arkansas is going to be able to keep pace with UNC. The Tar Heels blitzed Texas Southern when no one was looking, while the Hogs got by in part because of a controversial flagrant 1 call that sealed the game for them against Seton Hall. I like UNC big in this spot, with a heavy Tar Heel-blue contingent down in Greenville. For Arkansas, winning a tourney game after landing an 8 seed is a successful season. Expectations hit. 

This has been drilled into everyone's consciousness by decades of failing at this spot or worse in the tourneys.  The only difference is there is a bit more talent on hand to justify higher expectations.

Forget next year.  Forget that UNC is once again the roadblock in the NCAAT just as UK is the roadblock in winning the SECT.  Win tomorrow and this year and next year will mean something better.  Lose again and as the CBS hack says in the postgame press conference the expectations will be achieved and next year will certainly be the next "successful season" in an endless string of such seasons.

If you are looking for a change in the narrative then be satisfied with nothing less than a win tomorrow and only then look ahead to asses the state of the program.

[ShadowHawg]

Exactly where I thought it was headed the day mike was hired. A team that on average was on the bubble alot for the ncaat, would get in as often as not, and would occasionally make some noise by making a sweet 16 now and then. In other words, just like Mike as a coach, not bad but not great either, just good.

I love this. It is an insult to the potential of our program and an intellectual black hole. A place where intelligence is sucked from the universe never to escape again.

MA has exceeded the norm for every program he coached at prior to coming here. Highest single season win total and deepest tournament run in Missouri program history. Same at UAB.

The coaches who followed him at these programs had their best years with the players they were left and then returned those programs to obscurity.

Currently we  have exceeded the norm for our own program twice in the last three seasons based on the last 2 decades of results. In many areas, wins, road wins, ncaa tournament wins, conference tournament wins, recruiting (3 classes signed or committed), and a few others.

Summed up, hogsanity believes that our program is such a drag that it will cause a coach who has exceeded the norms at his previous jobs to revert to being mediocre while at this one.

I like to believe our program offers coaches a higher ceiling than UAB or Missouri do. Maybe it's just me.

[AFWarrior83]

I feel good about the future.  I don't think MA is a top 10 coach, but he's in the top 25.  Recruiting is picking up, so that's a huge plus!

I think he's the right coach for the U of A, but Idk if he can deliver us another championship.  I do believe he can get us in a position to have a chance at a title with the right players and the right matchups throughout the tourney...

[Razorod]

I like to believe our program offers coaches a higher ceiling than UAB or Missouri do. Maybe it's just me.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

[jmark]

im confident CMA has the program heading in the right direction.  what has hurt a faster recovery of the program is over coming players going pro early.  he's building a program that will overcome, year in and year out, key recruited players that leave early and still contend as a top 25 team thats 2nd to kentucky in the sec. eventuality play and be ranked with kentucky. 

this is a fine team winning 26 games. its just some of the losses were look bad blowouts. a loss to unc will not stop CMA from continuing to build a great basketball program.  winning tomorrow would be great for our players and they would deserve the win.  i'd be super proud of 'em. 

I'm calling the hogs. Go Hogs!!

[hogman99]

With the recruits coming in i feel good.


What say you?

Please be cautious when it comes to the recruits. They aren't ready made day 1 impact players (except maybe Reggie Perry) and will need development. I think even FCJ will agree with that.

[tophawg19]

MA can't be considered a top 25 coach because we don't finish in the top 25 and rarely beat top 50 teams . I do think the team learned a toughness at Kentucky that has been missing . I think we are a 5 away from being pretty good next year but we have got to reach the point of consistency for whole games . We still have long stretches of WTH ball mixed in with very good play. Our kids have to learn a mental toughness and Physical aggressiveness

[ShadowHawg]

So you judge the program from moment to moment in games?

Also, Arkansas hasn't been a top 25 program since the mid/late 90s so judging him using the program is not legit.

[daBoar]

Proud of this team and the coaching staff.
Don't what happened that caused the horrible loss to Missouri followed by the loss to Vandy at home.
But they turned it around and started playing their best ball of the year.
Mike seems more engaged and fired up than I've seen him - recruiting is on a positive track.
High hopes for next years team - realize though we've got major pieces to replace (Moses, Hannahs and Manny).
Trending up.

This.........my concerns have been about the team not playing like a team.  That's been overcome.  Everything is pointing up.

[WorfHog]

I feel like we're pointing up. Mike'' got some talented guys coming in that should feel some holes for next season.

What I see us really lacking is a true lockdown center. Someone who can clean up under the rim and make a must have shot when the threes stop falling.  I think we're gonna feel Moses impact more next season when he's gone.

[Hootiethehog]

I'm very comfortable with where we are NOW. Forward movement is what I want and expect. With the exception of the abhorraton of the 2016 season, we have been doing what we should. Don't talk to me about the Missouri and Vanderbilt losses, even the best of teams lose games they really have no business losing. The Mississippi State loss at home is more distressing to me.

We have re-established ourselves as a postseason staple (yes, it's just two years in the last three, but the trajectory is going in the right direction).

We now just have to turn the next corner, where we are ranked for most of the season, then the next step is being a lock for the tournament each year with a 5 or 6 seed being our basement.

The biggest factor in that change is the SEC getting back to being a player in college basketball, raising our strength of schedule. We actually have to hope Missouri and LSU's new coaches can get it done and that Bruce Pearl figures it out.

As long as we keep getting quality recruits, we will be able to get back to the top of college basketball. WI'll we return to our 1990s form? Unlikely, but we can still be a major player, which is where I see us in the next few years. It takes a long time to repair the reputation that we developed in the 2000s to get top recruits here again.

[Hollywood870]

With a win tomorrow, The Hogs are officially back in a big way. Without a win, we are almost there. Need to sign a good power forward every now and then. All recruits need to be good players fwiw. Need a threat at every position. Almost there. Read where Zaire Smith has a 6'9 wingspan. Really would be a great get. If we win tomorrow? No telling what it would do for recruiting. UNC has elite talent everywhere. No reason to back down though. Go get em.

[WorfHog]

With a win tomorrow, The Hogs are officially back in a big way. Without a win, we are almost there. Need to sign a good power forward every now and then. All recruits need to be good players fwiw. Need a threat at every position. Almost there. Read where Zaire Smith has a 6'9 wingspan. Really would be a great get. If we win tomorrow? No telling what it would do for recruiting. UNC has elite talent everywhere. No reason to back down though. Go get em.

You know I don't think it'll have much of an impact on recruiting. Right now we have three guys signed and three seniors leaving. Not any spots unless someone is shown the door.

[The_Iceman]

Yeah, I'm excited about this next year....

Barford / Beard / Glasper
Macon / Garland
Jones / Hall
Thomas / Bailey / Cook / Hazen
Gafford / Thompson

There may still be a few additions and subtraction to that group, but as it stands now, it should be another tournament team.

[cram224]

im confident CMA has the program heading in the right direction.  what has hurt a faster recovery of the program is over coming players going pro early.  he's building a program that will overcome, year in and year out, key recruited players that leave early and still contend as a top 25 team thats 2nd to kentucky in the sec. eventuality play and be ranked with kentucky. 

this is a fine team winning 26 games. its just some of the losses were look bad blowouts. a loss to unc will not stop CMA from continuing to build a great basketball program.  winning tomorrow would be great for our players and they would deserve the win.  i'd be super proud of 'em. 

I'm calling the hogs. Go Hogs!!

Mike had one player leave early for NBA. Ky, Kansas, UNC and Duke have 2 or three per year. Portis had two years CMA has never had a one and done. You have to know how to recruit the one and done's. We never get anybody in the top 50 nationally.

[ChicoHog]

As long as Anderson is the coach we will be inconsistent.  Win a few games that make us think "wow, maybe we are pretty good" and then lose some games where we go "WTH are we doing".  Finish in the top half or even top third of the conference, make the tournament, win a first round game and maybe a second round game every few years.  Mike is a great guy, good leader and role model but just an average coach IMO.  I think this year he has done his best coaching job yet showing at least some flexibility in his defensive systems.  As long as the state keeps producing decent talent I think we will be respectable.

[Hollywood870]

You know I don't think it'll have much of an impact on recruiting. Right now we have three guys signed and three seniors leaving. Not any spots unless someone is shown the door.

I mean possibly for that last spot if we don't get Zhaire Smith, who would be a very nice signee. Someone else could pop up late. Coaching changes and all of that considered. Recruiting in the future as well although it already looks good. Need that power forward or two.

[The_Iceman]

As long as Anderson is the coach we will be inconsistent.  Win a few games that make us think "wow, maybe we are pretty good" and then lose some games where we go "WTH are we doing".  Finish in the top half or even top third of the conference, make the tournament, win a first round game and maybe a second round game every few years.  Mike is a great guy, good leader and role model but just an average coach IMO.  I think this year he has done his best coaching job yet showing at least some flexibility in his defensive systems.

Why wouldn't making an Elite 8 be a possibility? He has been there before.

[Hollywood870]

Mike had one player leave early for NBA. Ky, Kansas, UNC and Duke have 2 or three per year. Portis had two years CMA has never had a one and done. You have to know how to recruit the one and done's. We never get anybody in the top 50 nationally.

I'm ok with three and done's. As long as we have several of them.

[sickboy]

Right now, things look very bright. Mike Anderson has pulled our program up from the dregs we languished in for years. Now we've got to grow into becoming a yearly tourney team.

[PORKULATOR]

I feel great about Arkansas Basketball. I'd feel better with #27 tomorrow. A lot better.

[Dwillhog66]

I feel great about Arkansas Basketball. I'd feel better with #27 tomorrow. A lot better.

It's fun being in the tourney I know that. Regardless of outcome tomorrow I feel like the tide has turned and Hawgball is back. We may have some struggles early on next year while we get some young inexperienced players up to par but with Barford and Macon leading us I feel like we'll be salty by the end of the year.

[Breems]

We are contending for SEC titles, making the tournament, winning games, and recruiting top 25 classes.

Sign me up for MORE OF THAT!

Best basketball I've seen as a Hog fan.

[hawgsalot]

Good grief would you negative nanny's give it up for one freaking day.  I'm so sick of it I can't stand it.  The only thing wrong with arkansas basketball right now is the fans, everyone with half a brain can see this team is on a major upward trend.

[ErieHog]

The same as ever.  On the upward trend, albeit not at a pace that will satisfy irrational people.

It took a long time for this program to bottom out;  its going to take a lot of time to build back to where it should be.

[dsims2k3]

We were at one point losing to
Morgan State and going 2-14 in SEC play.

[PonderinHog]

We were at one point losing to
Morgan State and going 2-14 in SEC play.

Good times!

[Ironhawg]

We were at one point losing to
Morgan State and going 2-14 in SEC play.

This is an important point.  Under this coach we have to crawl, then walk before we run.  I feel like we are definitely at the walking phase and, if recruiting goes right for us, we might get to run soon.  I don't know that we ever see a Final Four under Mike, but I think Sweet 16 is within the realm of possibility.

[ChicoHog]

Why wouldn't making an Elite 8 be a possibility? He has been there before.

It can be.  Many coaches have made the Elite 8.  I am talking about consistent performance in the regular season and post season appearances.  Villanova lost today and were the #1 seed in the tournament.  Stuff happens.  Kent St made the Elite 8.  The tournament is not indicative of who is the best team.  It is who gets hot at the right time.  But if you are in it consistently and seeded in the top 16-24 consistently you probably have a darn good program. 

[ShadowHawg]

Best basketball I've seen as a Hog fan.

I don't know how old you are Breems, but this statement needs to be taken to heart by any hog fan north of 40.

I am well north of 40. My earliest memories are of Sutton. My 21 year old son said something to me in the last few weeks about how this is the best he can REMEMBER the Hogs being in his lifetime.

I thought about it and realized that statement is absolutely true for him. He knows that the Hogs went to the tournament 3 straight times earlier in his lifetime, but that nothing exciting came of it.

For those of us who are more experienced, I don't think we are thankful enough for the really good times we experienced. I feel like they were taken for granted and a myopia about the program in general has set in about the total of where the program has been in the historical sense.

I still believe this program has a high ceiling, but realize more than ever that you don't overcome a literal generation of poor results in 4 years.

Championship or not, I want the fun restored most of all so I can build new memories with my lost generation of hog fans.

[The Boar War]

I feel like we are headed in the right direction.  However this is how I felt at this point in 2015.  Year 5 was a disappointment but hopefully history will show it as an outlier on an otherwise steady climb.  If at the end of the season, juniors start declaring and a high potential underclassman decides to transfer I'll be concerned that inconsistency will be the norm.

[pigture perfect]

I said on here that my complaining stops this year if we make the tourney. Well, we've done that and got a bonus in advancing. So I won't gripe on a wholesale level this summer or next season. But if we don't make it back next year, I'll be griping again in 18-19.

[sickboy]

I don't know how old you are Breems, but this statement needs to be taken to heart by any hog fan north of 40.

I am well north of 40. My earliest memories are of Sutton. My 21 year old son said something to me in the last few weeks about how this is the best he can REMEMBER the Hogs being in his lifetime.

I thought about it and realized that statement is absolutely true for him. He knows that the Hogs went to the tournament 3 straight times earlier in his lifetime, but that nothing exciting came of it.

For those of us who are more experienced, I don't think we are thankful enough for the really good times we experienced. I feel like they were taken for granted and a myopia about the program in general has set in about the total of where the program has been in the historical sense.

I still believe this program has a high ceiling, but realize more than ever that you don't overcome a literal generation of poor results in 4 years.

Championship or not, I want the fun restored most of all so I can build new memories with my lost generation of hog fans.

Must be young. I'm in my mid 30's and grew up watching late 80's hog ball on. I remember the good times well. I was out in my back yard shooting jump shots pretending I was Scotty Thurman.

[Sharky]

I love this. It is an insult to the potential of our program and an intellectual black hole. A place where intelligence is sucked from the universe never to escape again.

MA has exceeded the norm for every program he coached at prior to coming here. Highest single season win total and deepest tournament run in Missouri program history. Same at UAB.

The coaches who followed him at these programs had their best years with the players they were left and then returned those programs to obscurity.

Currently we  have exceeded the norm for our own program twice in the last three seasons based on the last 2 decades of results. In many areas, wins, road wins, ncaa tournament wins, conference tournament wins, recruiting (3 classes signed or committed), and a few others.

Summed up, hogsanity believes that our program is such a drag that it will cause a coach who has exceeded the norms at his previous jobs to revert to being mediocre while at this one.

I like to believe our program offers coaches a higher ceiling than UAB or Missouri do. Maybe it's just me.

Anderson has yet to show he can produce championship caliber teams. Anderson had one really good season in five at Mizzou, but even that maxed out a 3rd in conference and an Elite Eight. And Anderson took UAB to a Sweet 16....they've been to an Elite 8 before. Most of the evidence points to Anderson being an above average coach. I don't think our system will every lead to a Championship--it will always fall to elite guard play.

Maybe his ceiling is higher at Arkansas, but he's also going against several changes that hurt his system: more TV timeouts that give the other team time to catch their breath, more touch fouls, better technology to review tape and see what works against us. We are best when we can push, push, push and run teams into the ground. It's hard to maintain that pace with all the stoppages in play.

[Sharky]

It can be.  Many coaches have made the Elite 8.  I am talking about consistent performance in the regular season and post season appearances.  Villanova lost today and were the #1 seed in the tournament.  Stuff happens.  Kent St made the Elite 8.  The tournament is not indicative of who is the best team.  It is who gets hot at the right time.  But if you are in it consistently and seeded in the top 16-24 consistently you probably have a darn good program.

What you're really talking about is consistent recruiting...can Arkansas get to the point it consistently competes to bring in one or two of the top recruits in the nation. That's really what it takes to be consistently dominant. We have the fan base for it--a win over NC might be that spark. If we win, Anderson would probably be locked down for a 7-year extension. And there would be A LOT of media buzz about Arkansas.

[blu]

Trending up, no question about it. The overall team talent continues to improve. We have four legit threats to score 20 any night we play. Nolan didn't get his first Sweet 16 until his fifth year here.

Give Mike one or two elite players and with the overall talent we now have, we could see another good run. Wouldn't surprise me at all.