The Christmas season is upon us, and there is plenty to ask for if you're a fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Sam Pittman and the football team are gearing up for the Liberty Bowl, which is set to be played Wednesday against Kansas at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis. Of course fans want a win in that game, but there is plenty more to ask for with that squad.
Head coach Eric Musselman and the Hoop Hogs have dealt with a pair of injuries to Trevon Brazile and Nick Smith Jr., but the team has the talent to run the table in the NCAA Tournament once again.
Could this finally be the year that Dave Van Horn gets the Diamond Hogs over the hump at the College World Series?
Here's a breakdown of what Arkansas fans are likely wishing for as Christmas day approaches:
A 10-win football season
It's no secret that the football team's 6-6 performance this year did not meet expectations. After going 9-4 in his second season as the Head Hog, Pittman set the bar higher than it likely should have been in his third year.
After losing plenty of talent to the transfer portal and the NFL Draft, his squad still has the chance to get to seven wins with a victory over the Jayhawks in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. But let's be realistic, not many fans are putting much stock into that game.
The Razorback faithful are already looking towards next season. It seems like each day the roster changes in some way, but the expectations will likely be high once again in 2023.
Arkansas hasn't had a season with double-digit wins since 2012, when Bobby Petrino led the Hogs to an 11-2 record and a Cotton Bowl victory over Kansas State.
With KJ Jefferson coming back for his third year as primary play-caller, the Razorbacks will try to build around him at the skill positions.
Defensively, the line should be solid, but there is plenty of work to do at linebacker and in the secondary.
Football is king, and the Razorbacks are the king of football in the state of Arkansas. To win double-digit games in 2023 is likely near the top of most Arkansas fans' Christmas wish lists.
- Mason Choate, Managing Editor
A healthy Nick Smith Jr.
Arkansas fans have an excellent basketball coach and a great basketball team. Under Eric Musselman, the Razorbacks have seen a renewed level of success, harkening back to the program's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
Entering this season, Arkansas signed the second-ranked recruiting class in the country, highlighted by three McDonald's All-Americans: Anthony Black, Jordan Walsh, and Nick Smith. The first two have played well so far this season, while Smith has been hampered with a knee injury.
The Razorbacks are already down one star player in Trevon Brazile, who is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. The nagging knee injury with Smith leaves Arkansas fans asking, "Why us?" and saying things like "We can't have anything nice," or "This program is cursed."
The program has its best basketball roster in decades, a bonafide national championship contender, and they lose their sixth man for the year and haven't had a healthy star freshman and projected lottery pick for more than four games.
Despite all of this, Arkansas is 11-1 and ranked in the top ten nationally. The Razorbacks have soldiered on without Brazile and Smith, but they also haven't hit the hardest part of their schedule yet. SEC play is looming, and it's coming fast.
A healthy Smith would be the perfect Christmas gift for Arkansas fans. His return would restore fans' national championship hopes and allow the state to rally around one of the best basketball players to come out of the state in recent memory.
- Jackson Collier, Basketball Staff Writer
Sign a top-5 recruiting class
As far back as Rivals’ recruiting rankings go, Arkansas has not signed a class any higher than No. 16, which it did in 2009. They came close this year with No. 18, but what fans actually want for Christmas is to break into that upper echelon in the top 5.
What that would look like, at least in 2023, would be, at a minimum, a class dominated by four-star recruits and topped off with a few five-star guys. Right now, Miami holds that No. 5 spot, and the Hurricanes have three five-star recruits, 16 four-star recruits, and five three-stat guys.
Perhaps the 2024 class could be the one. The Hogs hung out in the Top 10 for the first part of 2022, and if the team can hang on to some positive momentum throughout the year, that Christmas dream might just become a reality this time next year, but there is a lot of work that will need to be done.
Let's see how much prioritizing recruiting in new hires will work out for Pittman.
- Daniel Fair, Football Recruiting Analyst
A successful transfer portal season for football
A transfer portal wishlist is really simple for most Arkansas fans. Defense, defense and more defense. Sure, the offense needs some help too, but the defense should be the main focus going forward. With that being said:
1) Drew Sanders 2.0 - One would think Arkansas should have no problem getting a guy like this after the numbers Drew put up this season. The Hogs grabbed USF transfer Antonio Grier as a signee on Thursday, but they could still use more experience at the position.
2) John Ridgeway 2.0 - Arkansas desperately needs a big nasty in the middle. With guys transferring/graduating/declaring, this position is paramount.
3) Lockdown cornerback - Dwight McGlothern was a bright spot in a secondary that struggled. With the emergence of Quincey McAdoo late in the season, landing another lockdown corner would completely flip the script in 2023.
4 ) Speedy WR - Time to show some love to the offense. Arkansas already landed a big body WR in Andrew Armstrong. Landing a guy to really take the top off the defense and outrun guys across the middle (Matt Landers type) would help this offense explode.
5) Lockdown safety - An argument could be made for this to be first on the list. Safety play this season was…not great. Having a guy in the back that won’t get beat every other play would be music to the fanbase’s ears.
6) Elite offensive tackle - The offensive line was hit or miss in 2022. They finished especially poor, giving up six sacks against Missouri. With left tackle Luke Jones not returning next season, landing a guy on the left side of the line to keep Jefferson safe would be huge in keeping him healthy, and ultimately, taking this offense to the next level.
If Arkansas can land at least six transfers of this caliber, plus other role players and depth pieces, the Arkansas fanbase may start believing in Santa again.
- Riley McFerran, Transfer Portal Contributor
A College World Series title
It isn’t exactly a secret that Razorback Baseball fans are insatiable. Regular season losses feel like the end of the world, and even a third-place finish last season wasn’t good enough after the team had to travel for the regional round for the first time since 2015.
While the discourse throughout the season becomes exhausting, it’s understandable. Dave Van Horn has now made seven unfruitful trips to the CWS as the Razorback skipper, and fans need not be reminded how close the 2018 team was to the pinnacle. For a perennial contender, that’s not good enough, especially when two of its biggest rivals have claimed the last two titles.
While the 2023 pitching staff will almost certainly be in the upper echelon of the SEC, it’s tough to say how the batting order will stack up to opponents in the best league in the country. The lineup is going to look very unfamiliar for those who haven’t paid attention since June, but Van Horn threw enough darts at the board in the transfer portal that some of them are going to have to hit. So long as he is at the helm, Arkansas is going to have a shot to win it all.
- Robert Stewart, Staff Writer
