Arkansas basketball and its fans have longed for this. The Razorbacks are a national powerhouse again.
Thursday’s game against Connecticut will mark Arkansas’ third straight appearance in the Sweet 16, something the Hogs have done 14 times overall. There have been ups – US Reed, anyone? – and downs – Louisville again four years later.
Most of Arkansas’ runs that deep into the NCAA Tournament have come with the Razorbacks favored. Saturday’s upset over Kansas was an underdog story. Another win against UConn would be the same. But “underdog” isn’t what the Razorbacks really are, not with this talent.
So, let’s look back at those previous teams and what they did at this point.
Note: From 1939 until 1950, the NCAA Tournament had just eight teams. Arkansas participated three times, beating Wyoming in 1941 just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, beating Oregon in 1945 and falling to Oregon State in 1949. For the purposes of this list, those games are excluded because there were not 16 teams in the tournament. However, we felt it prudent to acknowledge their quality.