Van Horn's Hogs seek to rebound in nation's toughest league

Diamond Hog fans, do not despair. Arkansas' recent losses -- two straight SEC series and four of the last five games -- is a blip on the bigger screen.

This is not akin to the shocking start John Calipari's hoops Hogs suffered through with an 0-5 start in the SEC.

The basketball Razorbacks recovered from that supposedly season-ruining stretch with a late-season surge that resulted in two NCAA Tournament wins came within a hogs' whisker of reaching the Elite Eight.

That was a redemption tour for Coach Cal's kids. Much was made of how talented the SEC was in basketball and how many great teams the conference claimed. Best league in the history of leagues, many said.

That was justified by Florida winning the national championship and Auburn reaching the Final Four. Tennessee and Alabama made the Elite Eight.

Arkansas, Kentucky and Ole Miss all reached the Sweet 16, which gave the SEC a record seven teams still alive in the second week of March Madness.

But rest assured, my friends, basketball in the SEC is not better than baseball in the SEC. Has never been and likely will never exceed the talent and success the conference achieves on the diamond.

There are currently 10 SEC teams ranked in the D1Baseball.com Top 25. A new poll will be released today and Arkansas is likely to drop in the rankings.

Going into last weekend's series, coach Dave Van Horn's Razorbacks were No. 1 in all the land. They strutted into Athens, Ga., and whipped the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs 13-3 on Friday but then lost a pair of 7-6 heartbreakers, the second in 12 innings.

After a mid-week win, they dropped two of three again, this time in the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium to the preseason No. 1, Texas A&M Aggies.

Again, dear Hog fans, do not anguish over the recent stretch. Do not lose hope. This latest version of a top-notch Arkansas team once again has a great chance to reach the College World Series.

Thing is, while SEC basketball coaches continually referred to the league season as a "gauntlet," it was really the first time that undeniable.

In baseball, it has always been so, at least since Arkansas joined the league in 1992. Go back two years earlier and the facts are pretty amazing.

The SEC has produced 16 national champions since 1990. The College World Series was canceled due to Covid in 2020, so that means the SEC won 16 of the last 34 titles.

Throw in the two won by the Texas Longhorns and one by the Oklahoma Sooners -- who joined the SEC for the 2024-25 school year and it's 19 of 34.

Why has that happened? How is that possible? Obviously, warm weather schools attract the best talent. It's why Arizona State and Southern Cal have been traditional powers for 80 years.

LSU won five World Series in a 10-year stretch from 1991-2000 under legendary coach Skip Bertman. They did it with a lot of talent and a confident swagger that can make the difference when two great teams square off.

Money is another reason the SEC is best. Arkansas helped create that with the construction of Baum Stadium in 1996.

Just two years later, Baum was named the nation’s number one facility in the Baseball America poll of best college facilities.

It's gotten even better as the luxury suites grew from the original two to 32. Other schools have followed suit, to a lesser extent. Point is, SEC schools care about baseball and it's reflected in national titles and in the polls.

Texas Longhorns outfielder Tommy Farmer IV celebrates the home team's sweep of the No. 8 Auburn Tigers at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas was No. 1 in last week's poll and will remain so after sweeping the visiting No. 8 Auburn Tigers this weekend by scores of 3-2, 8-3 and 14-2.

The other SEC schools in the rankings:
2 - Arkansas
4 - Tennessee
5 - Georgia
8 - Auburn
9 - LSU
11 - Ole Miss
15 - Alabama
18 - Oklahoma
19 - Vanderbilt

Arkansas won two of three at Ole Miss and swept Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Hogs also swept South Carolina and Missouri. They're at Florida next weekend and host Texas May 1-3.

They journey to play LSU after the renewed Hogs-Horns series and finish with a home matchup with defending national champion Tennessee.

It's a tough schedule, a long road that includes four or five games each week from February through May -- and beyond in seasons they live up to the nickname of OmaHogs.

Van Horn's team is 34-7 for the season, 13-5 in the SEC. They're not going to win 'em all. Nobody does in baseball. The goal is not get too high or too low, and to win each series.

Hog fans have been excited as the Hogs started in the top five of the polls and ascended to the top. The team will need them in full force when Texas comes to Fayetteville.

A couple of wins at Florida and a repeat against Texas could restore the Razorbacks' momentum and catapult them all the way to Omaha, Neb. That would be Van Horn's eighth trip to the CWS as the Head Hog.

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