With the men’s SEC college basketball season (mostly) over, this is an important time to reflect on the season that was. We saw it all from buzzer beaters, overtime thrillers, surprise teams like the South Carolina Gamecocks and teams that underperformed.
You could make an argument for several teams when discussing who was most disappointing including Texas A&M and Kentucky given their preseason hype and expectations. Both of these teams were able to salvage their season with big wins throughout the season and by qualifying for the NCAA tournament, which is why I think the most disappointing team this year was the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Led by Eric Musselman, the Razorbacks saw their first losing season during his coaching tenure going 16-17. The lone bright spot came early in the season as they defeated the Duke Blue Devils. This victory came just weeks after a loss to UNC Greensboro. During the SEC regular season, they only won 2 games in a row once and failed to defeat any of the top SEC teams.
The pre-season expectations for the Razorbacks were high as they were expected to challenge for a top 5 finish and to possibly cut down the nets for an SEC championship. Instead, they finished 11th in the conference with a 6-12 record against SEC opponents.
Prior to this season, Arkansas qualified for the NCAA tournament in 3 consecutive seasons and advanced to the sweet sixteen every time with 2 appearances in the elite 8.
That streak came to an abrupt end as the team as a whole took a step back. Arkansas lost 3 of their 4 leading scorers to the NBA which, to be fair, is tough for any team to recover from. That said, they landed 2 players from the portal, Traymon Mark and Khalif Battle, who led them in scoring.
Offense was not the problem for the Razorbacks as they averaged nearly 78 ppg. The defense, on the other hand, was a sore spot for them all season as they surrendered 79.8 ppg.
The Razorbacks never seemed to find their rhythm this past season and lacked the same blueprint and identity that got them to the elite 8 twice in 3 seasons- that being a high octane offense with a disruptive and relentless defense. The effort was there, but the same level of execution from the previous seasons was not. Arkansas averaged more turnovers per game than assists which made it difficult for them to play their style of basketball.
It’s clear that Eric Musselman is the man for the job. There were some rumors tying him to Southern California, but Arkansas’ AD silenced those rumors by suggesting that Musselman will remain in Fayetteville. This is good news, obviously, as he has had a lot of success in his first 5 seasons- 4 winning seasons, and 3 NCAA tournament appearances.
There is no coaching controversy, but I think it’s imperative that Arkansas maintain their nucleus as much as they can. It is exceedingly difficult to replace the bulk of your experience season to season, especially when a significant component of your identity as a program is your tenacious defense.
This is the side of the ball that seems to take the bigger hit when a program is forced to reload. Arkansas saw their points allowed per game average increase by 11 points this past season and went from top 25 in steals per game to outside the top 200- both indicative that their defense took a massive step backward, which, I believe, was the main reason for their struggles.
If Arkansas can keep some semblance of a core unit intact, I believe Musselman will restore the defensive intensity and have them back in the big dance next year. Losing key pieces to the portal or to the NBA again could spell trouble for the Razorbacks