College Basketball Labels Arkansas Fans as in Need of Humbling

Yet, it's really hard for Razorback fans to be humble when 50+ years of success say otherwise

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Jun 15, 2023 4:23 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When fan bases from across the country are hating on a segment of fans because of their love for their favorite college basketball team in the middle of June, something is going right.

That's the situation for Arkansas Razorback fans. Recently, the College Basketball Report Twitter account posed a simple question.
"Which College Basketball Fanbase needs to get 'Humbled'?"
Of the roughly 200 responses as of this writing, at least four out of five appears to indicate someone needs to put Arkansas fans in their place.

The hate came from all over the continental U.S., but there was a slightly higher rate of calling out Razorback fans from Missouri and Alabama. The Mizzou fans make sense as, unlike with football, there's always been something bubbling under the surface between the Hogs and Tigers in basketball. As for Alabama, all the Dodge sports cars in the world couldn't help them surpass Razorback success in the NCAA Tournament, so all they can do is complain about Arkansas fans thinking a run through the Big Dance is a bigger deal than the SEC Tourney.

It's a compliment that all these feathers are ruffled. Other than Kentucky, no other fan base can compete with Arkansas when it comes to traveling with its team, and there may be no louder fan base on the internet, win or lose, than the Razorbacks. Kansas comes close, but they're a bit more docile when it comes to an online presence.

As far as being humble, not only is there no reason for Razorback fans to do so, it's literally baked into their basketball DNA. Other than a short period following the end of the Nolan Richardson era, the Razorbacks have been a dominant force in college basketball over the past half century plus. There's even a song about how it's hard to remain humble when you're associated with Razorback basketball that began in the 1970s when Hall of Fame head coach Eddie Sutton and Renaissance Man of college basketball energy, band director Jim Robken, agreed to start the tradition of playing the song after the numerous Arkansas victories.

Here's how it's described on the athletic website run by Arkansas Communications:

"Perhaps the most fun of all Razorback traditions is singing “It’s Hard to Be Humble” because it takes place only after a victory. Legendary pep band director Jim Robken introduced the song sometime in the late 1970s. Robken and then coach Eddie Sutton worked on a number of ways to turn Barnhill Arena (where Arkansas played basketball at the time) into the loudest atmosphere possible. There were many opportunities to sing the song since the Hogs won 90 percent of the games they played in Barnhill while Sutton was coach.
The gist of the song? It’s hard to be humble when you are an Arkansas Razorback fan. Robken has been gone for over two decades but the tradition has lived on."

I was born in 1978. By the time I graduated high school, Arkansas had been to 10 Sweet 16s, six Elite 8s, four Final Fours, two national title games and won a national championship. Looking back on when my sports consciousness truly kicked in, I became fully aware of what was going on at Arkansas around age 10 or 11, around a year before Todd Day, Lee Mayberry and Oliver Miller arrived. Transplanting that sports consciousness equation to the current generation means for Arkansas fans born in 2009, their only memories of the team entering next season will be only of three Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s, wins over numerous teams either ranked No. 1 or seeded No. 1, and no reason going forward to think life will ever be different. These are kids who are about to hit high school.

There are children who will be prepping for kindergarten when the next NCAA Tournament rolls around whose lives will have never seen Arkansas do less than exceed every team in the SEC in terms of going deepest in the tournament. As for Alabama fans, they have to be at least 30 to remember the last time, and only, time the Tide made it to the Elite 8. As for Mizzou, despite the Tigers having a much more respectable basketball history than Alabama, fans have to be at least 24 to remember the last time Missouri was in an Elite 8.

In the best season the Tide has had in forever this past year, an average of only 10,967 fans per game showed up. That's just barely over half what Arkansas averaged, and if we're talking actual backsides in seats and not just ticket sales, the gap widens even more. Missouri was slightly better, which is justified with the team's resurgence under Dennis Gates, at 11,571 per game. That is a huge jump from the reported 3,399 scanned ticket average the season before.

Having other fan bases hate yours is fun, which is exactly what Arkansas fans are experiencing. What Hog fans consider the dark ages of the basketball program featured eight NCAA Tournaments in 18 years. Making the tournament approximately every other year is the end of the world for this fan base. Mike Anderson had seasons of 22, 23, 26 and 27 wins in his final six seasons at Arkansas and got fired for not being successful enough. That gets coaches raises and long contracts elsewhere.

So, yes. Razorback fans are proud. The ones on Twitter can be difficult for other fan bases to suffer at times. But, one thing that can't be argued, is that Arkansas fans have any reason to be humble. In their minds, the next national title is just around the corner. There's respect for fan bases like Kentucky, Kansas, and UConn, but pride in Razorback basketball will take a backseat to no one.

For the record, direct contact was made to fans who listed Arkansas as the group that needs humbling to provide an opportunity to explain why. There was also a general post offering anyone who didn't have messages available on Twitter to offer their two cents. Out of all the people who thought Razorback fans need to be humbled, not one was willing to offer an explanation.