Why Fans Across Alabama Will Be Doing Hog Calls This Week

Eric Musselman's Razorbacks may not like it, but their best path to the tournament requires willingly handing the Crimson Tide the SEC championship

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Feb 13, 2023 9:50 PM EST
Original:
Feb 13, 2023

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It might be an odd feeling for Alabama fans as it pertains to basketball, but the Crimson Tide will be pulling hard for the Arkansas Razorbacks Wednesday night when they visit College Station to take on Texas A&M.

Alabama has four games that pose potential for losses beginning with a showdown against Tennessee in Knoxville Wednesday night. There’s also home games against Arkansas and Auburn before the very problematic close to the season on the road against the Aggies.

With only six games remaining, Alabama is looking to close the door on anyone else claiming the SEC regular season championship.

While Texas A&M is currently having to fight for its NCAA Tournament life for some reason, the Aggies are one Alabama loss from being able to grab at least a share of the conference title with a win to close the season.

However, if Eric Musselman’s Razorbacks can pull it together again to hand A&M the second of three SEC losses on the year, the pressure on the Crimson Tide will relax a great deal, allowing them to focus on nursing their newly acquired No. 1 ranking.

That means that despite the chippy games of the past few years between Arkansas and Alabama, all of Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas will pretend to like Musselman in hopes he can do them a solid.

Arkansas took down the Aggies 81-70 in Bud Walton Arena back on Jan. 21 as part of a stretch that saw the Razorbacks go 5-1 with the only blemish coming in Waco against No. 17 Baylor in a 3-point nail biter.

However, there is cause for concern among Alabama fans. The Arkansas team that blasted Kentucky in Rupp Arena was abruptly thrown into disarray Saturday against Mississippi State as the Hogs failed to incorporate returning highly touted freshman guard Nick Smith, Jr. into game plan smoothly, turning what had become a well-oiled machine into a 1979 Ford Pinto with a hole in the radiator hose.

Also, despite the recent success against South Carolina and Kentucky, the Razorbacks are 2-5 on the road, and that’s if you don’t consider the 30-point blowout in Austin at the hands of the Texas Longhorns during the exhibition portion of the schedule.

Factor in that A&M is 12-1 at home and the outlook is a bit dim on Nate Oats sending the Hogs an appreciation basket Thursday morning.

That being said, Arkansas can’t afford more than a couple of losses unless the Razorbacks manage to run through No. 1 Alabama, No. 10 Tennessee and Kentucky to close the season.

While helping Alabama win a conference championship isn’t exactly the easiest pill for Arkansas to swallow, getting to the tournament and avoiding the 8-9 seeding line is of top priority for the Razorbacks, so if it means putting a trophy on the shelf in Tuscaloosa, the Hogs will just suck it up and deal with it.

Much like Alabama fans Wednesday night when it’s time to break out a poorly executed Hog call.