The rich history of [autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag] really didn’t start until the 1980s. Legendary Razorback head coach [autotag]Norm DeBriyn[/autotag] put the program on the map during this decade.
The program’s first trip to the College World Series happened in 1979, where they finished runner-up to Cal State Fullerton. That success carried over into the 1980 and ushered in a new era of Razorback baseball under DeBriyn.
During this decade, Arkansas would have seven NCAA Tournament appearances – 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989. They would advance to the College World Series in 1985, 1987 and 1989.
Arkansas was still in the Southwest Conference (SWC) back in those days and, ironically, have as many conference tournament championships from the SWC as they do since joining the SEC – one. The Razorbacks won the 1985 SWC Tournament championship and it was the program’s only conference tournament title until 2021.
The 1980s laid the foundation for what Arkansas baseball is today, and there were a lot of talented players that Norm DeBriyn counted on to accomplish that feat.
We took the best players from that decade and put together to form one fictional super-team. Here’s a look at Arkansas baseball’s All-80s team.