FAYETTEVILLE -- Surely no Arkansas fans other than those betting against the spread whine that their fifth-seeded Razorbacks "only" beat 12th-seeded Wofford by three during Thursday's first round of the NCAA Tournament's West Region in Jacksonville, Fla.
Fourth-seeded North Carolina, Arkansas' second-round opponent tonight in Jacksonville, escaped 13th-seeded Harvard 67-65 on Thursday to reinforce that no victory is a bad victory in the Big Dance, especially after No. 3 seeds Baylor and Iowa State were ousted by No. 14 seeds Georgia State and Alabama-Birmingham.
Look back on Nolan Richardson's three Final Four teams at Arkansas which current Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson was a part of as an assistant coach. Two of them struggled to survive first-round games against underdogs just like Arkansas struggled to eke by Wofford, 56-53.
The 1990 Razorbacks reached the Final Four semifinals by escaping Princeton 68-64 in the first round and underdog Dayton 86-84 in the second round.
Arkansas' eventual national runner-up team of 1995 began that NCAA Tournament expected to smash the Texas Southern team that the 1994 national champion Razorbacks routed 129-63 with President Clinton attending at Walton Arena.
Essentially the same personnel matched up again in Austin, Texas. Texas Southern outscored Arkansas 43-33 in the second half, leaving Arkansas gasping to survive 79-78.
PETRINO LEGACY FLIP FLOPS
Everyone recalls the Bobby Petrino era of Razorbacks football filled with record-breaking wide receivers who compensated for average to below-average defenses.
That's how it was for Petrino but not what it would be for Bret Bielema after inheriting players who played for or were signed by Petrino before his April 2012 firing brought John L. Smith in to coach Petrino's players in 2013.
Although he continued signing wide receivers by the boatload, Petrino's last great wideout, Cobi Hamilton, finished in 2012.
Only Keon Hatcher, who returns as a senior after a team-leading 43 catches for 558 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2014, has produced for Bielema as anticipated. Only Hatcher and Eric Hawkins -- who so far is more noted as a Razorbacks track sprinter than a football receiver -- remain among the 2012 receivers.
"We were dealt a bad hand there," Bielema said this week. "I thought coming in because of the type of offense they had run here previously we'd have kind of a pretty good stock of receivers. We had a stock, but they weren't good in the things we wanted them to be."
Conversely, those "average" Petrino defenses bequeathed Bielema some exceptional players.
Tackle Darius Philon, who turned pro early, and 2014 seniors Trey Flowers, Alan Turner, Tevin Mitchel and Braylon Mitchell played pivotal roles in last year's defensive turnaround, when the Razorbacks posted consecutive SEC shutouts against LSU and Ole Miss.
The legacy continues.
Petrino also signed defensive linemen Taiwan Johnson, JaMichael Winston, Deatrich Wise and Brandon Lewis, cornerback Jared Collins and safety Rohan Gaines, all of whom were significant in 2014 and will be counted upon all the more for 2015.
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Sports on 03/21/2015