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Smith, McGee Familiar with Ohio State

Arkansas
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FAYETTEVILLE - When Arkansas meets Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, a pair of Razorbacks coaches will get a chance at retribution

Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee and special teams coordinator John L. Smith each spent four years coaching in the Big Ten prior to their arrival at Arkansas. McGee was a position coach and offensive coordinator at Northwestern from 2004-07, while Smith was the head coach at Michigan State from 2003-06.

Though the two went a combined 1-7 during their tenures against the Buckeyes, the familiarity should help in preparation for the Jan. 4 game.

“The memories come back of how they execute and what their style is, and you take those things and present them,” said Smith, now in his second season at Arkansas. “Things haven’t changed, even though some schemes might be a little different. Basically they’re going to play the same. They’re not going to do a billion things. They’re going to be very disciplined and very physical.”

Smith, who also serves as the Razorbacks inside linebackers coach, said Big Ten ball is different than the style played in the Southeastern Conference. Much of that, he said, has to do with the colder climate in the northern states.

“They pride themselves in run the football, run the football, run the football,” Smith said. “I think it’s more of a wide-open game in the SEC. I think the people in the SEC pride themselves on speed, speed, speed, as to where back in the Big Ten they pride themselves in muscle, muscle, muscle.”

That doesn’t mean the “Big Ten is slower” stereotype is true.

“I coached in the Big Ten for four years so I know about (Ohio State),” McGee said. “They run different schemes, but they have athletes on the SEC level.

“You hear people say that the Big Ten is slow, but I know exactly about the speed they have. They will be athletic and fast. Anyone who thinks they are slow is wrong.”

The two coaches’ histories with Jim Tressel go back further than just their days in the Big Ten. McGee (Northern Iowa) and Smith (Montana) were assistants in Division I-AA (now FCS) while Tressel was a four-time national championship winning coach at Youngstown State.

“It wasn’t a good result,” Smith said. “He beat us then, too.

“Coach Tressel does a great job. I don’t think he’s going to give his kids a million and one things to do. They’re going to keep things as simple as they can, but those kids are going to be very disciplined and execute the things they’ve been taught to execute. They’re going to pride themselves on being good enough to beat you one-on-one.”

Arkansas’ resources aren’t limited to just Smith and McGee. Illinois offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and tight ends coach Chip Long each spent the previous two seasons with the Razorbacks. Paul Petrino is the younger brother of Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino.

The Buckeyes beat the Fighting Illini 24-13 earlier this season.

“I’ll try to get as much as I can from Paul,” Bobby Petrino said Sunday. “Certainly they spent an entire week preparing for (Ohio State), but they also watched them throughout the year. You learn a lot about a team when you watch them play the other opponents you’re trying to prepare for.”

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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Six Hogs Earn AP All-SEC

Arkansas
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FAYETTEVILLE - Six Arkansas players earned first- or second-team all-SEC honors Monday, as voted on by the Associated Press.

Tight end D.J. Williams, running back Knile Davis and offensive tackle DeMarcus Love were voted to the first-team, while quarterback Ryan Mallett, defensive end Jake Bequette and safety Tramain Thomas were voted to the second team. Williams, a senior who is also a finalist for the Mackey Award, was a unanimous selection.

“It means a lot,” Williams said. “A lot of postseason accolades and awards have started coming out and it goes back to hard work, not just in the summer, but from the first time I stepped foot on this campus. I’m very humbled about it and appreciative of it.”

The Mackey Award winner will be announced on Wednesday in Orlando. While there, Williams will also be presented the Disney Spirit Award.

“It’s going to be a fun experience,” Williams said. “The greatest part about it is my family has never been to Disney World. It will be their first time and I feel like I get to take them, like the man of the family. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

Love, a fifth-year senior, was a preseason all-SEC selection, but Davis was the one who turned the most heads this season. After Arkansas struggled to run the ball effectively when Dennis Johnson went down with a season-ending injury, Davis began to get most of the workload.

Davis responded with as impressive of a season as any back in the league, rushing for 889 yards and 12 touchdowns in the final six games alone.

Mallett was the preseason pick at quarterback, but finished second to Heisman Trophy front-runner Cam Newton. The Razorbacks signal caller passed for 3,592 yards and tied his school record with 30 touchdowns in the regular season.

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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2010 All-SEC Team Announced

Arkansas
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Mike Zarrilli – Getty Images

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The AP’s 2010 All-SEC team was announced earlier today, and congrats are in order to Knile Davis, D.J. Williams and DeMarcus Love for making the 1st team (D.J. was one of five players to be chosen unanimously), and to Ryan Mallett, Tramain Thomas and Catholic High’s Jake Bequette for making the 2nd unit.

If anyone had placed a decently-sized bet in Vegas on Davis being an all-conference RB before the season started (or after the Alabama game) they’re probably shopping for yachts or property in the Carribbean right about now. Davis’ rise from sporadically used platoon back to all-conference monster (over highly touted competitors such as Mark Ingram or Trent Richardson) has been one of the best parts of the entire season…very nice to see him get the recognition he deserves.

As for snubs, it’s hard to argue against any of the WRs that were chosen, but it’s a little unfortunate that we couldn’t combine our four top guys into one mighty candidate…as it is now, Childs, Adams, Wright and Hamilton are all so good they end up cannibalizing each other’s award chances. It’s a nice problem to have.

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Who is going to chant "SEC! SEC!" in the bowl games?

Arkansas
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So the bowl season is set. All 500 of the games! haha. Well, 35 to be exact. But I am going to walk us through just the ten bowls that have an SEC connection with my gut reaction about the matchup and the SEC’s chances in each bowl game for a victory. After each prediction,I put my level of confidence in my pick on a one to five scale with five being a feeling of metaphysical certitude and one being a Woody Allen level of self-confidence. We’ll go through this chronologically.  

MUSIC CITY BOWL: Tennessee (6-6) vs. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  (7-5) (Dec. 30th): Couldn’t they just move the bowl to Asheville, North Carolina, and meet in the middle? These are both halfway there teams based upon their records, the Vols more than UNC, which has that one additional win. Tennessee backed out of playing UNC for this upcoming season, so it interesting to see the bowl gods throw these two together anyway. The SEC normally doesn’t win this bowl, but my gut is saying they make it to 7-6 due to something good has to happen to the Tennessee program eventually, haha. And bowl games are largely about motivation, and I think Tennessee “wants it more” to use that tired cliche of sports talk. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 4

LIBERTY BOWL: Georgia (6-6) vs. Central Florida (10-3) (Dec 31st): One way to handle SEC East teams in bowl games is to judge them based upon their opponents’ geographical relation to SEC West teams. The closer the opponent is to an SEC West school, the more likely the SEC East team will lose. Central Florida is east of all the western teams, so Georgia has a chance here, haha. I think like last year (Independence Bowl) pride steps up for Georgia and they get a close win. But I think the Hogs took whatever good luck mojo was left for the SEC after last year’s Liberty Bowl escape. Georgia, it could be close. Bring a lot of pride! THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 2.5

PEACH BOWL (yeah, I know its current name): South Carolina (9-4) vs. Florida State (9-4) (Dec. 31st): I look forward to seeing Steve Spurrier face Florida State again, even if Bobby Bowden is no longer on the sidelines and is off trying to talk to “Peggy” about his credit card. I think round two in Atlanta is going to go better for the Gamecocks than round one. Florida State has no Cam Newton to ring their chicken necks in the Georgia Dome. South Carolina finishes off 2010 for the SEC with three bowl victories and gets the Gamecocks to ten wins for the season. Lattimore will have a much better game this go around, and Lord Alshon Jeffrey will colonize the FSU secondary. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 3

OUTBACK BOWL: Florida (7-5) vs. Penn. State (7-5) (January 1st): Meyer, the only SEC coach not to vote Auburn number one in the final poll  (had them at two) doesn’t deserve to hear the SEC chant at the end of this game. And I don’t think he will. Paterno knows a thing or two about going down to the state of Florida and winning bowl games, and I doubt Florida finds an offense between now and 2011. Make it Penn. State 8-5 when this done. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 4.5

CITRUS BOWL (yeah, I know its corporate name): Alabama (9-3) vs. Michigan State (11-1) (January 1st): How would we feel if Arkansas had gone 11-1, best season in recent memory, and still didn’t make the BCS? Rather pissed. And that is what I feel like Michigan State will come to play with, a pissed off attitude, and they’ll give Bama all they want, maybe even a fake field goal. But at the end of the day, Michigan State is a program that lives under a black cloud of Murphy’s Law, and I think some epic goof will take place on their part and Bama secures a narrow victory. The confidence isn’t very high due to memories of Alabama vs. Utah two years ago.  Bama could come out flat as a pancake. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 2 

GATOR BOWL: Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Michigan (7-5) (January 1st): With Michigan’s defense, you have to think the Cowbellers are going to score in this game and score plenty. But so will Denard Robinson! The players on each team certainly want this win, but the factor here is how much does each coaching staff need this win? Michigan and Rich Rod need it way, way more than Mullen and his staff, the princes of Starkville for an 8-4 record and a Florida bowl, their first since WWII. Though I hate to say it, I think the Cowbellers leave Jacksonville with a loss in this one. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 3

SUGAR BOWL: Arkansas (10-2) vs. Ohio State (11-1) (January 4th): First off, I just hate that this bowl isn’t on January the 1st. I am pleased that the Hogs have sold out their allotment of tickets, but the 4th is not a good day for people who work and have kids in school. A Tuesday night? Anyway, I’ll start by saying I am nervous as hell about this game. Both programs have no lack of motivation. OSU looks to beat an SEC team in a bowl game for the first time and get that monkey off their back. The Hogs look to raise their level of college football street cred to a much higher level by going 11-2 and finishing possibly in the top five while beating a Big Ten team in a bowl game for the first time (thanks a lot, Houston!). Right now I am giving the edge to the Hogs based upon these factors. The Hogs have played a tougher schedule, having beaten three teams in the top 25 and five bowl teams. Their enemies have better prepared them than Ohio State’s enemies. If it is a tight game, the Hogs have the experience and confidence from having been in those type of games, MSU and Georgia. Though the Hogs have been gashed at times by the mobile quarterbacks they’ve faced, they do have the experience of facing that type of attack, so nothing new there. The Hogs have Bobby Petrino, who has coached a BCS game before with success. Tressel, of course, has coached in more of them, but also knows how to fail in them. I like that the game is inside a dome unlike the cold of the Liberty Bowl, so weather doesn’t act as an advantage for Ohio State, and Mallett won’t face any wind factors. Finally, I think our fans will be louder than the Buckeyes’s faithful and will have the dome rockin’ when the Hogs are out there on defense. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 1.5  (It would be higher if I didn’t know so well Arkansas’s history in bowl games and the Sugar Bowl in particular.)

COTTON BOWL: LSU (10-2) vs. Texas A&M (9-3) (January 7th): How strange is it going to be to watch the Cotton Bowl on a Friday night? Friday Night Lights, Jerry Jones style, I guess. The Aggies got hot not too long after their game with the Hogs in Arlington. They changed quarterbacks, and that seems to have made a big difference in their overall play. This is a hard one to get a feel for. I could change my mind after more reflection, but right now I think the LSU defense (still a great defense)  finds a way to shutdown the A&M offense just enough for Jordan Jefferson and Jared Lee to get the job done. Besides, the Aggies don’t have very much of a winning tradition right now in Jerry World, thanks to us. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 3

BBVA COMPASS BOWL: Kentucky (6-6) vs. Pitt (7-5) (January 8th): I don’t even know what BBVA Compass is??? Anyway, Kentucky got their 5th bowl in a row, but the Wildcats, I believe, are playing a basketball game that day, so don’t expect much blue in the stands! These two teams are just the opposites in conference records. Kentucky couldn’t hang with the SEC and went 2-6, but Pitt could hang with the Big East and went 5-2. But is hanging with the Big East saying much? haha. South Carolina lost here last year to a Big East team. I say Kentucky gives us the black eye here again with a loss in the heart of SEC country, Birmingham. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 2.5

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Auburn (13-0) vs. Oregon (12-0) (January 10th): Just too much has been going Auburn’s way, from tight games to the NCAA going all soft on them to the hail mary just before the half, so I think the storybook is due for a ripped page for its ending. And the Ducks, I believe, will rip right through that suspect Auburn defense. Yes, many, many points will be scored. And it will come down to the team that has the ball last, which will be Oregon. And Auburn will just not be able to make the last stop, and Oregon wins its first national championshp. Cam Newton will have a hell of a game, but so will LaMicheal James and the Ducks’ offense. The four SEC teams that played in the championship game before Auburn had a stellar defense to count on. Auburn really doesn’t compare to those teams.  And I  think of the two teams, the one most in danger of over-confidence in their mindset is Auburn, and that will be something of a factor in this outcome. “Everything has gone our way. We are the SEC! The SEC always wins this game. Team of destiny, blah, blah, blah.” Hmm, those whom the gods destroy, they first make proud! I think the football gods have set Auburn up for a heartbreaking last second touchdown fall. THE CONFIDENCE SCALE: 3.5 (would be even higher if I knew for certain that Cecil Newton didn’t also make a deal with the devil at some Mississippi crossroads.)

My gut says the SEC goes 6-4 this season.

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Petrino Joins BCS Short List

Arkansas
Content provided by The Slophouse.

FAYETTEVILLE - If you had any doubt Bobby Petrino was an elite college football coach, there should be little doubt anymore.

The third-year Arkansas coach has the Razorbacks in a BCS bowl for the first time in school history. In doing so, Petrino – who won the Orange Bowl at Louisville in 2006 – joins Nick Saban (LSU, Alabama) and Urban Meyer (Utah, Florida) as the only coaches to earn BCS bids with two different programs.

“We know a lot about Coach Petrino because he was up this direction at Louisville and had some fabulous football teams,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Sunday. “He did some extraordinary things in the Big East. We know the quality of that.”

Year three has become the bar for coaches to get their program to a BCS bowl. Saban, Meyer, Les Miles (LSU), Mark Richt (Georgia) and Gene Chizik (Auburn) are SEC coaches who have done so.

Meyer, Tressel and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops won the national championship in their second year at their respective schools. This year’s national championship game features two second-year coaches in Chizik and Oregon’s Chip Kelly.

While Arkansas has yet to make it to that level, the Razorbacks were one of the best teams in a conference that perennially puts its champion in the national title game. That bodes well for the future as long as Petrino stays at the school. The UA must lock the coach into a long-term deal following the season – or even perhaps before the bowl game – as other schools are sure to be intrigued by the Razorbacks’ success.

It’s a testament to the improvement made under the current coaching staff and the quality of leadership it has. From 5-7 to 8-5, to 10-2, Petrino and his staff have proven their worth and ability in the right time.

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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UA Bowl Tickets Sold Out

Arkansas
Content provided by The Slophouse.

FAYETTEVILLE - The University of Arkansas has already sold out its allotment of 17,500 tickets for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

The school received more than 24,000 pre-orders during a two-week span. Donors to the school’s athletic foundation and season-ticket holders should all receive tickets to the game, according to a press release, but all others will likely be left out in the cold.

“The demand for tickets to the Allstate Sugar Bowl has been far greater than the tickets we were allotted by the bowl game,” Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said in a release. “We appreciate the tremendous response from the Razorback fans.”

No tickets are listed for sale on the Sugar Bowl’s official website, though several online ticket sites such as StubHub.com have tickets listed for the game.

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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Mallett, Buckeyes Go Back

Arkansas
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FAYETTEVILLE - One interesting side note heading into this year’s Sugar Bowl will be Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett getting another shot at Ohio State.

Mallett, who transferred to Arkansas in 2008, spent his freshman season at Michigan. Mallett backed up Chad Henne for most of that season, though he did start three games because of an injury and saw action in 11 contests.

That included a 14-3 loss in the rivalry game with Ohio State. In that contest, Mallett completed 1 of 3 passes for 8 yards and was sacked one time.

It will likely be a different story this time around, though, as Mallett has rewritten the Razorbacks record books and helped lead the school to its first BCS bowl bid.

“We are very familiar with Ryan Mallett from his time at Michigan,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “We hoped we were done with him when he transferred and here we are getting him at the height of his career.”

Mallett has passed for 3,592 yards this season and tied his own school mark with 30 touchdowns. The redshirt junior said leading Arkansas to a BCS bowl was a top priority when he decided to turn down the NFL Draft and return to school last winter.

“Everyone knows ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a part of an Arkansas team in a game like this and I’m thrilled for the opportunity,” Mallett said in a release. “I know our fans will be in New Orleans to support us.”

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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Arkansas Earns First BCS Bid

Arkansas
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FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas is going to the Sugar Bowl.

The No. 8 Razorbacks earned the school’s first ever Bowl Championship Series bid Sunday. Arkansas will face No. 6 Ohio State on Jan. 4 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

Arkansas has already sold out its allotment of 17,500 tickets. The university received more than 24,000 pre-order requests through its website during the last two weeks.

Both teams enter the game with impressive resumes. The Razorbacks (10-2) won six consecutive games to end the regular season, including three wins against BCS Top 25 opponents in the final month.

Ohio State (11-1) is going to its sixth consecutive BCS bowl game and eighth in nine years. The Buckeyes finished in a three-way tie with Wisconsin and Michigan State for the Big Ten championship, but by virtue of the BCS rankings, Wisconsin earned the league’s automatic berth to the Rose Bowl.

Arkansas hasn’t played in the Sugar Bowl since a loss to undefeated national champion Alabama following 1979 season. The Buckeyes last played in the bowl following the 1998 season, but met LSU in the Superdome in the BCS National Championship Game three years ago.

The Razorbacks have played in the game five times, with each contest coming against an SEC opponent before joining the conference. The Hogs’ only win in the bowl came over Georgia in 1969.

It will be the first meeting between Arkansas and Ohio State. The Razorbacks are 1-5 all-time against the Big Ten, including 0-3 in bowl games.

The Buckeyes are 0-9 all-time against SEC opponents in the postseason, with BCS National Championship Game losses to Florida (2006) and LSU (2007).

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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Tom Murphy’s Top 25 Ballot

Arkansas
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Editor’s Note: Each week Tom Murphy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is one of 60 voters in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. His ballot is published each Sunday in the Slophouse.

1. Oregon

2. Auburn

3. Wisconsin

4. TCU

5. Stanford

6. Arkansas

7. LSU

8. Ohio State

9. Boise State

10. Michigan State

11. Oklahoma

12. Alabama

13. Virginia Tech

14. Missouri

15. Nebraska

16. Oklahoma State

17. Texas A&M

18. Nevada

19. Mississippi State

20. South Carolina

21. Central Florida

22. West Virginia

23. Florida State

24. Tulsa

25. Hawaii

For more visit WholeHogSports.com.

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    Sweet Thoughts

    Arkansas
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    Sweet thoughts, and I don’t mean high fructose corn syrup! haha. Tonight it should be made offical: the Hogs to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl. The Hogs will return to the Superdome and the Sugar Bowl for the first time since the Lou Holtz era with the opportunity to put eleven wins in the win column and notch their first BCS bowl win. It won’t be Bear Byrant on the other sideline this time, but more likely Senator Tressell from Ohio State. More about him and the Buckeyes for another day. But today, here are some reflections on the Hogs, the Sugar Bowl, Arkansas fans, and the strange quirks and twists of fate that have the Hogs where they are at today.

    * When I made a post earlier in the season about all that would need to happen to get the Hogs into a BCS bowl, hmm, I honestly thought it was a stretch. Something was bound to go wrong, as it typically does for the Hogs. And oh how close it all came to not happening for us in Starkville and then in Tuscaloosa where Auburn had to mount an epic comeback and won by just a point. You can say the Hogs walked a tightrope to New Orleans.

    * I reflect back to May the 13th, the day I posted that the Hogs would go 10-2 and make it to a BCS bowl. I was off about one of the losses. I had MSU as a loss and Auburn as a win. I didn’t  factor in the fact that Cam Newton was at Auburn, not bought and paid for at MSU! haha. I also thought that the SEC making it to five national championship games in a row was something of a stretch, so I had us in the Orange bowl as an at large.

    * Email, twitter, youtube, laptops, facebook, sports blogs, the ESPN networks (ESPN itself was just a few months old), the SEC in its present form, College Gameday, Erin Andrews (not yet two years old), message boards. All of these play a role in our sports world today, but were way off the radar or barely on it back on January the 1st 1980 when Lou and boys lost to Bear Bryant and the Tide 24-9. Being seven years old at the time, the 1980 Sugar Bowl is also the first Hog game I have a real memory of.

    * Seeing Gus Malzahn on the sidelines yesterday wearing orange and navy blue, I thought about what Arkansas fans really wanted back in those days when Gus was with the Hogs. And that was to see Houston Nutt truly let Guz run the offense. “Turn Gus loose” as Nutt put it. Well, Gus got turned loose finally, but at another school, and now he is headed to the national championship game in Glendale, Houston Nutt sits on a shakey chair in Oxford, and the Hogs, thanks in part to Gus, are finally headed to a BCS bowl.

    * I stayed up late last night in an attempt to soak up the last bit of the regular season before it all went into the history books for 2010. And to do that, I watched USC play UCLA in the Rose Bowl. And do you want to know who got the last snap of the game in a victory formation? Yep, it was Mitch Mustain. His college career ended the day the Hogs secured a spot in the BCS. I even caught a glimpse of him up on a ladder leading the Trojan band. Due to sanctions, he’ll stay home this bowl season with the rest of the USC team. How his football life did change after one bad pass in Columbia, South Carolina in 2006! In his heart of hearts, does he now regret leaving Arkansas? I wonder.  Of course, if he had stayed, there would be no Ryan Mallett breaking all types of records at Arkansas.

    * Ben Cleveland stayed and I hope writes a book someday, haha, for he has seen some strange and interesting days in Razorback history. And now he is headed to New Orleans to end his college career in the Sugar Bowl. I hope he catches a touchdown.

    * Funny how things work out. Mitch and Guz departing at the end of the 2006 season and then the whole 3 million dollar departure of Nutt to Ole Miss and that horrible Cotton Bowl where we looked like keystone cops out there with Reggie Herring in charge, that all had the bad taste at the time of things falling apart, but they were actually part of something much better being built. There’s a life lesson in that, I think.

    * The Hogs won the Sugar Bowl back in 1969 with a 16-2 win over Georgia on January 1st. Ohio State has won the bowl only once as well. Their win is much more recent, 1999 over Texas A&M, 24-14.

    * My friend and I discussed over the phone if Mallett would leave after the bowl game. We reluctantly talked ourselves into thinking that this would indeed be his last game as a Razorback. But I think it is also a fitting last game for his legend. No, he isn’t going to win the Heisman, but he has led the Hogs to their first BCS bowl and could very well leave the team with a Sugar Bowl trophy. I would rather he stay around and leave us with an SEC trophy, but a Sugar Bowl trophy isn’t anything to sneeze at either.

    * Might it be a tad bit easier for Hog fans to forgive Dyer, Ziemba, and Burns for leaving the Natural State for Auburn now that they helped get the Hogs into the BCS? Maybe.

    * After seeing the SEC Championship game, I have to say, “What was I so worried about?” Haha. I thought it would be closer, but post-season on CBS didn’t produce the type of game, a close one, that is normally seen on that network at that time in the regular season. Consider these numbers, the SEC West has a combined 54-19 win / loss record for the year. The SEC East, a pitiful 36-37 record. Three of the East’s bowl teams got in with 6-6 records. Whereas the West has three teams with double digit win totals for the season. The sun rose and set in the SEC West this season.

    * BIG PICTURE THOUGHTS: Well, most of this post has been big picture in nature. But I will end by saying that I am very much looking forward to writing my next post-game post about the Hogs in the Sugar Bowl. I just hope that a month off isn’t a month of getting rusty, for I feel like the Hogs that won two Saturdays ago is a team that can compete with the Ohio States of the world. I know New Orleans has its temptations, so I hope the Hogs manage to stay down there without getting anybody suspended for breaking team rules. That worked once in the Orange Bowl, but I don’t think suspending your best players has a very high percentage rate of working in your favor. To all of you who are going to make the trip to New Orleans, travel safely, call the Hogs like never before, and show some Southern hospitality to those Ohio Yankees before and after the Hogs whoop their butts and the SEC chant fills the Superdome.

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