Mike Anderson is happy to be opening the SEC season at home Thursday, even if it is against a good Florida team.
Anderson lamented to the Downtown Tip-off Club crowd last week in North Little Rock about this only being the second SEC home opener in Fayetteville in the last five years.
Since Arkansas played at Texas A&M twice during that span he joked about it being the “Texas A&M Invitational” and consulting the SEC office.
But seriously, this is a big game for Arkansas. Florida is ranked No. 25, the first week it has been ranked this year. The Gators are also one of a handful of teams that hopes to get one of three or maybe four NCAA Tournament spots behind Kentucky.
The Hogs have won eight in a row and are talented and deep. With so many new faces they have spent much of the nonconference season learning how to play together, but isn’t a stretch to think this team could earn a tournament berth.
Newcomers such as guards Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford have complemented veterans Dusty Hannahs and Moses Kingsley.
But there isn’t going to be much room for error. As mentioned in this space last week, the Hogs didn’t pick up marquee win in the nonconference. Texas-Arlington is a quality team with a road win against a Top 25 team, but it is a Sun Belt Conference program.
So, it’s pretty simple for the Hogs: They need to be nearly perfect at home and win the games they are favored to win against bottom feeders on the road. If they don’t beat a credible team such as Florida at Bud Walton Arena there won’t be many more chances because the only other team other than Florida currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 is No. 8 Kentucky.
However, if Arkansas wins this game it could be ranked next week with a Tuesday road game at up-and-down Tennessee, which is 7-5 and opened the season with a 13-point loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga, but only lost to North Carolina by two points.
That's a winnable road game against a mediocre opponent. Win that game and then play at Kentucky. That would be interesting.
Consistency and confidence are two big keys. Last year the Hogs blew some chances by not playing well when they needed to. If that happens again, they won’t make the tournament.
So far, the Razorbacks have been consistent and have won the game they were favored to win. They haven’t been tested much, except from the lopsided road loss against Minnesota.
That is something Florida will do. The 9-3 Gators have played a much tougher schedule than the Hogs. Their three losses are to Top 25-ranked Gonzaga and Duke and most recently in-state rival Florida State. The Gators best win came against another in-state rival Miami, who is 9-2.
Former North Little Rock High School star Kevaughn Allen leads a balanced scoring attack with 13.6 points per game.
Devin Robinson averages and Canyon Berry average 12.4 and 11.7, respectively. John Egbunu and Kasey Hill are both around nine points per game. This is a relatively young but talented squad that second-year coach Mike White hopes can emerge into the upper echelon of the league.
With Florida’s balanced offense, Arkansas is going to have to play very sound team defense and pressure the Gators. Anderson said last week he was pleased with the play on the defensive end so far. Arkansas can score in its own right and can cause Florida some problems.
The other obstacle the Gators face is a potentially hostile Walton Arena crowd. The game time was moved back to 8 p.m. so Arkansas' Belk Bowl game against Virginia Tech at 4:30 p.m. won’t overlap.
The Arkansas athletics department announced the arena will open early and the bowl game will be shown on the jumbo tron. This will no doubt be the biggest crowd of the season and could be rowdy if the Hogs play well. That’s what Anderson wants to see.
It’s hard to call a conference opener a must-win game, but whichever team wins tomorrow night they will have the leg up and at the end of the season it may make a big difference.