In Case You Didn't Know (It Seems a Lot Don't) Razorbacks Have Game

Hard to find much for emotional investment in Hogs' game Saturday with Mississippi State

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Feb 16, 2024 11:00 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Saturday's game with Mississippi State almost completely slipped my mind, too. Arkansas fans shouldn't feel that bad as apathy grows this season almost in direct proportion to the number of losses. It's not changing unless there's a sudden spurt of wins here in February.

After listening to Razorbacks point guard El Ellis after getting kicked sideways in Bud Walton Arena for the second time this season, we're still hearing the same things as when all of this when this losing nonsense started.

"We got to play a lot harder," Ellis said after the loss to Tennessee on Wednesday night. "We had it to six at half and we just let the lead go. It’s frustrating, you know, to have a well-played performance last game and come out and play the way we did tonight. So, I would just say, in the second half, stretches like that we really just got to play harder."

There's not really an excuse for that phrase to have ever been uttered once, much less as much as we've heard it this year. It's obvious this team simply doesn't understand the amount of effort involved or just doesn't care. They had played mostly like the latter this season.

To his credit, Hogs coach Eric Musselman hasn't made excuses. He's done a better job of not blowing his stack and simply stating the obvious fact: this season has not gone in the tank because he and his staff forgot how to coach. They have one of those years where the players simply don't seem to really care.

Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman against Tennessee — Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman on the sidelines at Wednesday night's game against the Tennessee Vols at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images

Players can say all the right things. They've been coached in that for over a decade. For the last several years there's been a steady erosion of players saying anything of substance. Everybody is so afraid somebody's supposed to going to state the obvious facts.

The good news is an overwhelming majority of this team will be gone after the final loss in the SEC Tournament. Don't count on any postseason games, although a lot of folks are trying to find a path into the NIT.

Everybody should just let Musselman get down to finding all these players he's going to need and available opportunities are numerous. He will never admit it, but that's probably what he would prefer to do, despite how much he prefers the competition.

This year, Musselman hasn't had players that want to give the effort it takes to even compete on occasion. Now they go to Starkville for a 1 p.m. game with Mississippi State, a team that has been playing much better as the season has progressed. You can watch the game on ESPNU and fuboTV.