New Schedule - Season Prediction Time!!!

[Thomasrickj]

The 31st game is "unofficial." It's at home against Nichols State. I don't know why it hasn't been officially announced, but my understanding is that we are playing that game in Fayetteville as game # 31.

Nichols St - W
Wake Forest - W
Delaware State - W
@SMU - W
North Texas - W
Iona - W
@Iowa State - L
@Clemson - W
Dayton - W
SEMO - W
Wis-Mil - W
Northwestern - W
Utah Valley - W


Conference
@Georgia - L 0-1
Vandy - W 1-1
@Tennesse - L 1-2 (and some fringe morons calling for Mike's head)
Ole Miss - W 2-2
Alabama - W 3-2
@Mizz - W 4-2 (the idiots start to go back under the rocks)
Tennessee - W 5-2
@FL - L 5-3 (the idiots come back up for daylight for the last time and call for Anderson's head)
South Carolina - W 6-3
Miss State - W 7-3
@Auburn - W 8-3
@Ole Miss - L 8-4
Missouri - W 9-4
@Miss State - W 10-4
Texas A&M - W 11-4
@Kentucky - L 11-5
@South Carolina - L 11-6
LSU W 12-6


OOC 12-1


Overall 24-7


Finish in the top 25with about a 5 slot in the tourney, give or take. Wins at UGA, SC (a team that I look to be very dangerous) and/or Tennessee would be do-able and improve our positioning.


Our three biggest games are all on the road -- UF, UK, and ISU. Winning any one of those would really make it a great season. Absolutely possible. If we win one (or two) of those games, I think we'd have a top 10 season.


Auburn is obviously a somewhat unknown commodity. How much better can they be right off the bat?

Both SMU and Dayton will be pretty tough non-conference games. Not to **** on your party, but being 12-6 in a mediocre conference (I think outside of Florida and Kentucky that the SEC is pretty meh), won't earn you a 5 seed. My best guess is Arkansas goes 22-9 and earns anywhere between an 8 and 11. Still not bad for a program that didn't make the tourney last year. Good luck and I hope you guys give us a tough game. Tough games are always more interesting to watch.

 

[razorbackinkc]

Both SMU and Dayton will be pretty tough non-conference games. Not to **** on your party, but being 12-6 in a mediocre conference (I think outside of Florida and Kentucky that the SEC is pretty meh), won't earn you a 5 seed. My best guess is Arkansas goes 22-9 and earns anywhere between an 8 and 11. Still not bad for a program that didn't make the tourney last year. Good luck and I hope you guys give us a tough game. Tough games are always more interesting to watch.

I obviously have my own biases but I'll tell you why I think that 12-6 could get us a 5 seed. By the way, I appreciate the perspective and insight from a fan of a quality hoops team in a top notch hoops conference.

1) Our SOS/RPI will be much better than it has in the past with Iona, SMU, ISU, Wisc-Milwaukee, Clemson, and Wake in the noncon.

2) I expect the SEC to be improved this year. I know that we're really a football/baseball/track/gymnastics/golf conference and I don't expect the SEC to be among the top 2-3 conferences but improved nonetheless. I believe that Frank Martin is truly turning the corner at SC. I believe that this will be the best Arkansas team of the 21st Century (not saying much). LSU, Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Mizzou, and Tennessee will all solid teams for RPI purposes. Auburn, who is perpetually horrible, has a very good coach and who knows -- they may be better than they have been. And then there's obviously UF and UK.

12-6 in this year'a SEC will be a little bit better than 12-6 of the past few years. Just my opinion, we'll see.

 

[Thomasrickj]

I obviously have my own biases but I'll tell you why I think that 12-6 could get us a 5 seed. By the way, I appreciate the perspective and insight from a fan of a quality hoops team in a top notch hoops conference.

1) Our SOS/RPI will be much better than it has in the past with Iona, SMU, ISU, Wisc-Milwaukee, Clemson, and Wake in the noncon.

2) I expect the SEC to be improved this year. I know that we're really a football/baseball/track/gymnastics/golf conference and I don't expect the SEC to be among the top 2-3 conferences but improved nonetheless. I believe that Frank Martin is truly turning the corner at SC. I believe that this will be the best Arkansas team of the 21st Century (not saying much). LSU, Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Mizzou, and Tennessee will all solid teams for RPI purposes. Auburn, who is perpetually horrible, has a very good coach and who knows -- they may be better than they have been. And then there's obviously UF and UK.

12-6 in this year'a SEC will be a little bit better than 12-6 of the past few years. Just my opinion, we'll see.

With Alabama, you should expect Anthony Grant to find a way to not get any talent out of his players, just like he's done the last four or five years. Does Ole Miss still have that racist guard that can shoot the ball well from long range? I don't know enough about the other schools, but know that LSU drastically underperformed last year. Frank Martin will turn the corner at South Carolina, I agree with, but it should take another year or two before we start seeing big results. He's got some very good young talent. It still makes no sense to me why he up and left K-State, which he had established, to coach at South Carolina who hasn't been good for a while.

 

[razorbackinkc]

With Alabama, you should expect Anthony Grant to find a way to not get any talent out of his players, just like he's done the last four or five years. Does Ole Miss still have that racist guard that can shoot the ball well from long range? I don't know enough about the other schools, but know that LSU drastically underperformed last year. Frank Martin will turn the corner at South Carolina, I agree with, but it should take another year or two before we start seeing big results. He's got some very good young talent. It still makes no sense to me why he up and left K-State, which he had established, to coach at South Carolina who hasn't been good for a while.

Yeah, Anthony Grant is most definitely on the hot seat. Fortunately they don't pay a ton of attention to basketball in Tuscaloosa so they may not have noticed how bad last year was.

No doubt they've got to replace the point guard but I like some if their newcomers. Ricky Tarrant averaged like 15/4/2 at Tulane and should be a very solid PG with some experience.

They also add Juco transfer Micheal Kessens, a 6'9 PF who put up 13/9 in juco. Kessens also shoots well from the stripe which is always a plus for a big man.

Last, but not least, Anthony Grant added three 4* recruits -- a PG, a SG, and a swing/stretch PF/SF.

Again, I'm not trying to oversell the Tide but I think they could be inside the top 75 RPI this year. I'm talking improvement, not greatness.

 

[cyclones500]

Here ya go, Razor. I'm wingin’ it. Or maybe “hoggin’ it.”

Arkansas 2014-15 season prediction:
W Nichols State
W Wake Forest
W Delaware State
L @SMU
W North Texas
W Iona
L @Iowa State
L @Clemson
W Dayton
W SEMO
W UW-Milwaukee
W Northwestern State
W Utah Valley
W @Georgia
W Vanderbilt
L @Tennessee
W Ole Miss
W Alabama
L @Missouri
W Tennessee
L @Florida
W South Carolina
W Mississippi State
L @Auburn
W @Ole Miss
W Missouri
W @Mississippi State
W Texas A&M
L @Kentucky
L @South Carolina
W LSU
22-9 (12-6 SEC)

I won’t attempt to guess SEC tournament without an idea of matchups ... will play roughly to seeding, so let’s assume 1-1.

23-10, 8 seed (Midwest)

W vs. (9) New Mexico
L vs. (1) Wisconsin*

24-11 final record

*I wouldn’t completely be shocked by an 8v1 Anderson upset special in that one...

 

[CloneZone13]

Do you even know ISU basketball? You spelled Georges incorrectly.

ha, yes, I know ISU basketball very well, spelled it like it sounds. I'm very aware there is an 's'. sorry for the typo..

 

[VeloClone]

Iowa, IMO is at least one. I could see a loss in one of the neutral court games. Don't see us losing to the razorbacks. I know you said history doesn't matter but Fred has never lost to a team at home outside the top 10. It's not that it can't happen, but I'm certainly not going to start expecting it.

Also Arkansas is the only team worth getting excited about on the home schedule in the noncon. It will be a packed and excited crowd for a highly anticipated game.

Good luck though I like Arkansas and I really like Anderson. I actually emailed our AD and asked him to hire him the year mizzou hired him. We went on to the worst stretch in Iowa State modern history and mizzou was one of the most exciting teams in the nation. Ce la vie

Not true. Fred lost at home to:

UR Cal
UR Texas Tech
UR Oklahoma
UR K State
20 Missouri

All in just the first year.

The next year they lost to:

UR UNI

In Fred's third year there were no losses outside the top ten but last year:

15 KU

I must have misunderstood you because that is way off.

 

[razorbackinkc]

Here ya go, Razor. I'm wingin’ it. Or maybe “hoggin’ it.”

Arkansas 2014-15 season prediction:
W Nichols State
W Wake Forest
W Delaware State
L @SMU
W North Texas
W Iona
L @Iowa State
L @Clemson
W Dayton
W SEMO
W UW-Milwaukee
W Northwestern State
W Utah Valley
W @Georgia
W Vanderbilt
L @Tennessee
W Ole Miss
W Alabama
L @Missouri
W Tennessee
L @Florida
W South Carolina
W Mississippi State
L @Auburn
W @Ole Miss
W Missouri
W @Mississippi State
W Texas A&M
L @Kentucky
L @South Carolina
W LSU
22-9 (12-6 SEC)

I won’t attempt to guess SEC tournament without an idea of matchups ... will play roughly to seeding, so let’s assume 1-1.

23-10, 8 seed (Midwest)

W vs. (9) New Mexico
L vs. (1) Wisconsin*

24-11 final record

*I wouldn’t completely be shocked by an 8v1 Anderson upset special in that one...

FYI we beat Kentucky last year x2 at Rupp and at home. We also beat SMU and Clemson last year.

Why did we miss the tourney? Losses at LSU, Bama, South Carolina, Mizzou, and A&M. All non tourney teams. We were very inconsistent on the road and at neutral sites.

Thanks for the prediction!

 

[Thomasrickj]

Here ya go, Razor. I'm wingin’ it. Or maybe “hoggin’ it.”

Arkansas 2014-15 season prediction:
W Nichols State
W Wake Forest
W Delaware State
L @SMU
W North Texas
W Iona
L @Iowa State
L @Clemson
W Dayton
W SEMO
W UW-Milwaukee
W Northwestern State
W Utah Valley
W @Georgia
W Vanderbilt
L @Tennessee
W Ole Miss
W Alabama
L @Missouri
W Tennessee
L @Florida
W South Carolina
W Mississippi State
L @Auburn
W @Ole Miss
W Missouri
W @Mississippi State
W Texas A&M
L @Kentucky
L @South Carolina
W LSU
22-9 (12-6 SEC)

I won’t attempt to guess SEC tournament without an idea of matchups ... will play roughly to seeding, so let’s assume 1-1.

23-10, 8 seed (Midwest)

W vs. (9) New Mexico
L vs. (1) Wisconsin*

24-11 final record

*I wouldn’t completely be shocked by an 8v1 Anderson upset special in that one...

You're picking a win over Dayton yet a loss to Clemson? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

 

[CoKane]

Here ya go, Razor. I'm wingin’ it. Or maybe “hoggin’ it.”

Arkansas 2014-15 season prediction:
W Nichols State
W Wake Forest
W Delaware State
L @SMU
W North Texas
W Iona
L @Iowa State
L @Clemson
W Dayton
W SEMO
W UW-Milwaukee
W Northwestern State
W Utah Valley
W @Georgia
W Vanderbilt
L @Tennessee
W Ole Miss
W Alabama
L @Missouri
W Tennessee
L @Florida
W South Carolina
W Mississippi State
L @Auburn
W @Ole Miss
W Missouri
W @Mississippi State
W Texas A&M
L @Kentucky
L @South Carolina
W LSU
22-9 (12-6 SEC)

I won’t attempt to guess SEC tournament without an idea of matchups ... will play roughly to seeding, so let’s assume 1-1.

23-10, 8 seed (Midwest)

W vs. (9) New Mexico
L vs. (1) Wisconsin*

24-11 final record

*I wouldn’t completely be shocked by an 8v1 Anderson upset special in that one...

This is what I have for Arkansas as well, but I have them beating Clemson

 

[dualthreat]

Twocoach predicted us to lose 6 games and you guys are blowing up on him lol. Relax, we're probably going to lose 4-10 games this year and we'll be fine.

 

[razorbackinkc]

You're picking a win over Dayton yet a loss to Clemson? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

He's familiar with our home dominance and inconsistencies on the road.

 

[twocoach]

Twocoach predicted us to lose 6 games and you guys are blowing up on him lol. Relax, we're probably going to lose 4-10 games this year and we'll be fine.

They're only blowing up about the @Iowa pick. No biggie. ISU's regular season success will be determined by whether or not they can begin to win more tough road games. Dropping a few road games a year to lesser opponents has also been a hurdle to date. Hopefully ISU can cut down/eliminate those to max out their potential.

 

[ISUCY23]

Twocoach predicted us to lose 6 games and you guys are blowing up on him lol. Relax, we're probably going to lose 4-10 games this year and we'll be fine.

I will be disappointed with 10 losses this year

 

[ISU42]

Twocoach predicted us to lose 6 games and you guys are blowing up on him lol. Relax, we're probably going to lose 4-10 games this year and we'll be fine.

10 games? yikes

 

[cyclones500]

You're picking a win over Dayton yet a loss to Clemson? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Purely a home/road choice on those. Dayton seems probably for NCAA, Clemson perhaps fringe ... location, location, etc.

 

[cyclones500]

FYI we beat Kentucky last year x2 at Rupp and at home. We also beat SMU and Clemson last year.

Why did we miss the tourney? Losses at LSU, Bama, South Carolina, Mizzou, and A&M. All non tourney teams. We were very inconsistent on the road and at neutral sites.

Thanks for the prediction!

You're welcome. We'll see how close I came to reality in a few months

Arkansas did sweep UK last season, but assuming Kentucky upholds lofty expectations (being in 1-seed range as opposed to 8 seed ... cannot pick a road win in that situation, even if UA improves). Note: UK should've been a 6 in '14 ... but I digress ...

As for SMU & Clemson -- home/road coin-flip on those, 2013 v 2014. I could see a split there, quite safely. I'm not as gung-ho w/ SMU as some experts --- I'm 6/7 seed viewpoint and not top-15; still, college basketball away from home is a challenge.

"Why did we miss tourney?": Losses to four of those 5 examples this season would be less of a detriment compared to last year (possible exception: A&M).

 

[ChampFantana]

10 games? yikes

That doesn't seem too far fetched. Even with the weak non-con it's probable ISU loses at least 1. Given ISU's inability to win consistently on the road it's hard to see anything better than 12-6 in conference. Add in a loss in each the Conference and NCAA Tournaments and you get to nine losses.

 

[twocoach]

That doesn't seem too far fetched. Even with the weak non-con it's probable ISU loses at least 1. Given ISU's inability to win consistently on the road it's hard to see anything better than 12-6 in conference. Add in a loss in each the Conference and NCAA Tournaments and you get to nine losses.

I am the resident "hater" (apparently) and I think 10 losses is the very definition of far fetched. No way that happens without at least one significant injury to a valuable starter.

 

[CoKane]

That doesn't seem too far fetched. Even with the weak non-con it's probable ISU loses at least 1. Given ISU's inability to win consistently on the road it's hard to see anything better than 12-6 in conference. Add in a loss in each the Conference and NCAA Tournaments and you get to nine losses.

I see what you're talking about here, but this is just talking about the regular season. 9 losses overall are a possibility, 5,6, or 7 losses in the regular season. 10 regular season losses would mean we had a Oklahoma State sized flop.