Hogs' Eric Musselman Provides Much Appreciated Gift

Hard to focus on start of football with Arkansas Razorback basketball offers up such a tasty menu

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Aug 31, 2023 6:32 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Someone please tell Arkansas coach Eric Musselman what he did is unfair, but greatly appreciated.

There I was, fumbling around on my laptop in a dark hotel room thanks to the beautiful technology that is blackout curtains putting together a college football watching plan for the true opening of college football that starts tonight and runs through Monday. I was in the midst of determining whether Ohio State at Indiana for warrants a stop down on Saturday after the Arkansas game when the e-mail came across revealing the Razorback basketball non-conference slate.

One thing Arkansas fans don't understand is those of us in the media who are classically trained journalists are not fans. Fandom for any team is beaten out of you in the early years of journalism school in the name of unbiased reporting. With so many former Razorbacks and Hog fans sprinkled across the local media, the lack of realization by fans that we're also not supposed to be fans is understandable.

While numerous Razorback faithful have expressed how miserable not being able to be a fan sounds, it's truly a great, freeing thing. That's because instead of getting enthralled by the laundry, we, instead, get excited for great games. When you reach that point, the only way you're watching bad games is if you're being paid to do so. It's also easier on the old ticker because there's no need to get mad at a referee for making the right call against the team you love.

The perfect storm is when great games and games you get paid to watch and analyze coincide as a single entity. That's why the football watching got immediately scrapped Thursday morning. Seeing the Arkansas non-conference basketball schedule is cause for a great deal of excitement.

It's hard to care about an exhibition game, especially before Halloween, but even if football wasn't on an off week, getting a peek at the newest version of the Razorbacks against Purdue would warrant the time. Add in games against Duke, Oklahoma and Stanford, plus some two-team combination of Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina, Villanova and Texas Tech and it's shaping up to be a great fall.

The Battle 4 Atlantis slate is enough to make me wish I had $3,000 laying around. After roughly 30 years of doing this, there aren't a lot of live sports experiences that make me want to go through the hassle of travel and being sat on the far end of the court with cheerleaders blocking the view of literally everything, but this is a line-up that would be worth it. The games could be played at a gym in Dewitt with everyone required to sleep in their vehicles and this line-up would still make it worth it.

If Arkansas somehow manages to return to the mainland unscathed, the world is going to stop down for Arkansas vs. Duke. Of course, the flip-side of that coin is the Razorbacks get swept and all the luster is suddenly gone from what should be one of the biggest games of the entire college basketball regular season.

It's a good test for Musselman's team. It will provide a trial by fire that will give him a real gauge of how good his team actually is and what needs to improve over the course of the SEC season. As everyone knows, basketball before late January under Musselman is all about learning and adjusting, not necessarily wins. Then it becomes a focused push toward the only thing that truly matters in Fayetteville these days – the NCAA Tournament.

So, a big thank you goes Musselman for delivering a birthday present two weeks early. Schedules like this make life all the better. Now it's up to Musselman and his team as to whether the Arkansas fans enjoy it also. I'll be good either way so long as the games are interesting.