Random Notes: Walking Out, Fedoras, Sharks, Herman's, Seedings, Streaks and Recruits
After letting the events of the day settle in, we came up with the finest collection of notes pertaining to Arkansas-Kentucky the money our readers pay for these musings can buy.
• For the first time since a 3-game streak in between 2013-14, Arkansas has a winning streak going against Kentucky. That streak during the second and third years of the Mike Anderson regime was the longest of any coach in Arkansas history. Should Kentucky and Arkansas meet in the SEC tournament, current head coach Eric Musselman will have the chance to tie that streak.
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• No. 18 Arkansas and No. 6 Kentucky have the exact same record both overall and in conference play. Kentucky's wins over ranked teams includes two wins over No. 24 Alabama and a win 107-79 win over No. 17 Tennessee. Arkansas has wins over No. 3 Auburn, No. 6 Kentucky and No. 17 Tennessee. Arkansas is 13-1 over the past 14 games. Kentucky is 11-3.
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• The Wildcats are currently projected as a No. 2 seed for the tournament, while Arkansas is projected as a No. 6. Of course, ESPN's Joe Lunardi continues to do bits just to make fan bases mad, so LSU is a No. 6 seed along with Arkansas. Just ignore the fact that LSU has four fewer wins, Arkansas is in 2nd place in the SEC at 12-4 and LSU is in 9th place at 7-8, is 6-8 to the Razorbacks' 13-1 over the past 14 games, and Arkansas beat LSU in Baton Rouge without its head coach. Lunardi justifies these equal seedings with LSU's wins over Kentucky and Tennessee during the first week of January.
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• During his stay, John Calipari opted to go out to dinner at Herman's Ribhouse. As the only person in the restaurant daring to wear Kentucky blue, he was easily spotted by Arkansas fans and greeted with a restaurant-wide Hog call.
• So when we heard the student section would be bringing back the shark suits from the infamous Katie Perry super bowl commercial to represent "Sharkansas," it seemed like a curious choice that raised a lot of questions. Where do you get that many shark suits? What happens to the student who buys the shark suit, stands in the freezing morning cold, and then doesn't get a ticket? Aren't sharks an Ole Miss thing?
It wasn't until you saw the jarring sea of what appeared to be Kentucky students filling a huge section of a striped out Bud Walton Arena that it became apparent there was a huge problem with the shark suits. People who don't follow specific Razorback social media would have needed a good chunk of the game to figure out those weren't Wildcats there to support their team.
• Apparently fedoras aren't for everyone. On a post game radio show hosted by ESPN Arkansas's Ruscin & Zach, a Hog fan called in to tell the story of how he was asked to remove the fedora that he had worn with his Razorback striped overalls because it was creating an obstruction. Much debate ensued about whether a fedora should ever been worn with overalls at all, but after seeing a photo of the outfit, the hosts ruled in favor of the fedora not only being fit to wear with overalls, but also not an obstruction.
• Fans also made a big deal about Calipari sending his players on the bench into the safety of the locker room in case students stormed the court again as they did at Auburn. Security had lined the arena at the request of the athletic department in hopes of avoiding another situation where photographers and their equipment would be run over by students again while also endangering visiting players. There was also one particular fan who was of huge concern for Kentucky players, so, whether some Arkansas fans like it or call it cowardly, Calipari made the right call in keeping his team safe to play another day.
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• Much was made about Saturday's visit from two 6-10 Senegalese centers from Denver Prep Academy in Colorado, Baye Fall and Assane Diop.
However, their visit isn't without controversy. Fall was dismissed from the team earlier this week for improper conduct and a violation of team rules. DPA co-founder Greg Willis, who also serves as the director of scouting and recruiting for the program, hosts both players and pulled Diop from the school also after Fall's dismissal from the team.
• Dear announcers and studio show hosts both ESPN and CBS. The young man below is J.D. Notae. Not J.T. Notae. J.D. Please get it right.
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• Former Arkansas basketball players Jimmy Whitt and Jalen Tate made their way in for the Kentucky game. However, Whitt has a public service announcement should you happen to see him celebrating after the game.
• Could Jaylin Williams become a godfather some day?
• Thanks to the Hogs' win over Kentucky, Nos. 1-6 in the country, plus No. 9 all lost this weekend.
