Anything less than making the tournament

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#22

I agree that is a reasonable expectation. Doesn’t mean we will do it every year. Any year you make the tourney, it is hard to say it wasn’t a good year (although I have always said 1992 was a disappointing year, yes we made the NCAA’s but I expected a round of 8 or Final 4 from that team).

Any year you don’t make the NCAA’s, is most likely a disappointing year. That doesn’t mean you fire the coach because we didn’t make it, but I think making the NCAA’s is, in general, a good measuring stick of a year.

#23

If you are talking about the 1991-92 team, I agree. That might have been the most talented team the Hogs have ever had. Three first round NBA draft picks plus a high 2nd round pick in Morris.

#24

Yes, that was the team I was talking about. Lost to Memphis (which added to the pain for me). That team should have been in the Final 4.

For some reason after beating UK that year, we seemed to act like “OK, we did what we needed to do” and under performed after that (now, I am going on almost 30 year old memories for this post!!!)

#25

I think that was the game where Oliver Miller’s foot injury hurt us.

#26

I recently ran into a member of the 1991 team and struck up a conversation.

According to him “If that group of players hadn’t got into trouble, we would have won a National Championship.”

I didn’t ask him to elaborate. However, I remember the incident and I don’t doubt his claim. That bunch was good.

#27

That is probably true. That was the year of the “dorm incident” iirc. The MayDay Hogs were the most talented team Arkansas Basketball has ever had.

#28

We had a 12-point halftime lead over Kansas in the Elite Eight and coughed it up, thanks to the Prairie Chickens going to the line 33 times to our 15. I don’t think the dorm incident had anything to do with that. And KU went on to lose to Duke in the NCG. We had already beaten Duke in the preseason NIT.

#29

The player said, the team was never the same after the incident.

If he is still mad at the players involved today, he was probably furious at the time. Turmoil is never good.

#30

That was the year before I became a manager. That KU game still ticks me off. We got over confident and careless against them, but we were clearly the better team. In fact, the only team better than us that season was UNLV. That was the best college team I have ever seen to this day. I would have have loved one more shot at them in the Final Four, and no one will ever convince me that they didn’t throw that National Semi-final game against Duke. We were the only team in the country to play within 10 points of them that season until they “lost” to Duke.

#31

I was at the game and we dominated Kansas in the first half. In the second half, Big O had an injury to his leg and was unable to move and stop KU inside. If he did not get hurt , we would have won by double digits. This was a very frustrating loss.

This game is an example of how you have to overcome adversity and have some good bounces to win a National Championship.

#32

Didn’t the dorm incident happen in the summer of ‘91? And that’s why Day had to miss the entire first semester and didn’t play until January ‘92?

#33

I think you’re right. To me the '91 team was clearly better than '92 even though we won the SEC in '92, but maybe that’s why.

#34

The ‘91 team won 34 games, including beating Duke in the preseason NIT. I think they won 20 games in a row after losing to Arizona in the championship of that preseason NIT before the UNLV showdown.

Pretty sure Nolan is on record as saying it’s the most talented team he ever coached.

#35

That is correct. The 1991 team would have probably beat the 1994 team by 20. But that just shows you that the best team doesn’t always win the National Championship. We were very blessed to win it all in 1994, but that team wasn’t the most talented Razorback team.

#36

In addition to Kansas getting to the line all night, Lee Mayberry had a bad game – 7 points, didn’t make any treys, only four assists.

That game was in the same building where we beat Arizona and Duke three years later, by the way.

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#37

Please please please just make the tournament.

Seemed like our goal and birth rite expectation almost better part of three decades of my life.

Not so much last two decades.

Hope to see it again for a proud program

Muss may be missing some pieces but hope it’s enough to make it this year

#38

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