Greatest Hog Basketball teams of all time #2

10.  1989

9.  1993

8.  1983

7.  1977

6.  1979

5.  1990

4.  1995

3.  1978

I have had fun doing this and I hope you have had fun reading it.  I think the two greatest Hog teams of all time might shock you.  

2.  1994 So when you started reading this blog I bet you thought you knew exactly who number one was.  The only national champion would naturally be the best team in Hog history, as Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my friend."  Even though, this was Arkansas most special season this was not Arkansas best team.  The one thing where this team had a leg up was the ability to slow the game down or speed it up.  The Hogs scored 131 points in a game this season, but in the NCAA championship game scored 76.  This was a team that had it all, but not a lot of  NBA talent.  Corliss Williamson obviously was the best of the bunch.  He won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons as well as a Sixth Man of the Year award, but he never reached the super stardom that he did at Arkansas.  I bet if you asked him that would be alright with him.  Most everybody thought that Scotty Thurman had NBA written all over him. Especially after his game winning shot against Duke in the national championship game.  He declared for the draft after his junior year at Arkansas but did not get drafted.  He had made a couple NBA summer league teams, but never made a roster.  Corey Beck played with the Charlotte Hornets more than once but never was on the roster for a full year.  

That being said this Arkansas team was exactly that a team.  Beck was a gritty floor general.  Thurman was smooth and could score from anywhere and any way you wanted him to.  Williamson was unstoppable down low.  Arkansas had great role players too.  Dwight Stewart did a little bit of everything but would shock you with his outside shooting abilities.  Then Clint McDaniel was a defensive stopper who could hit the three.  Arkansas had players like Darnell Robinson, Lee Wilson, Davor Rimac, Roger Crawford,  Alex Dillard, Ken Biley, and Elmer Martin coming off the bench.  Most of whom could have started for many teams in the country.  Arkansas three losses came to SEC teams.  Mississippi State beat Arkansas by one at the Hump and Alabama beat Arkansas by two at Coleman Coliseum.  Kentucky got Arkansas by 12 in the SEC tournament.  Other than that the Hogs ran over the competition.  One of the more memorable games of that season was Arkansas drubbing of Missouri on ESPN.  The Hogs beat Missouri 120-68 and Missouri ended up being a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.  They weren't the only team to get pounded by the Hogs that year.  

One of the many things that made 1993-1994 a special season is that Arkansas opened their new basketball palace.  Barnhill Arena was a tough place to play, but Bud Walton Arena was and still is one of the best on campus facilities in the nation.  The Hogs protected their house with an undefeated record.  People knew coming into this season that Arkansas had the opportunity to do special things.  Arkansas spent nine weeks that season at the top of the AP and coaches polls.  They were just good.

Arkansas didn't have a whole lot to play for in the SEC tournament they knew they were a one seed and their focus was not the SEC tournament.  They were focused on the national championship.  Arkansas started their special run with North Carolina A & T.  The Hogs slept walked through that game winning 94-79.  The Hogs then drew Georgetown with a Freshman named Allen Iverson and a guy who had all but signed with the Hogs named Othella Harrington.  The Arkansas Georgetown game was very chippy.  Arkansas and Georgetown got into a fight and the Hogs lost a key component of their championship team that game, Roger Crawford.  Arkansas won a pretty hotly contested game 85-73.  The Hogs moved on and beat a Tulsa team coached by Tubby Smith 103-84.  Arkansas then moved on to the Fab 5 minus one  (Chris Webber) and Michigan the Hogs showed the Wolverines that they meant business with a 76-68 victory.  The Hogs moved on to the Final Four in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The Hogs were joined by SEC foe Florida, Duke, and Arizona.  The Razorbacks met the Arizona Wildcats and Damon Stoudamire.  This contest was hotly contested but Corliss Williamson dominated the Wildcats and the Hogs were able to pull out a 91-82 victory. 

 It was the on to Duke.  Arkansas had lost to Duke in the 1990 final four 97-83, but had beaten the Blue Devils in the preseason NIT final in 1991 98-88.  This was a whole new group of players on both teams except Duke still had Grant Hill.  The previous two times the Hogs met Duke they were the underdog but this time the Hogs were the favorite.  Duke led by Hill gave Arkansas all they wanted.  The Blue Devils even took a 10 point second half lead 48-38, but Arkansas battled back.  Arkansas and Duke rocked back and forth and with the game tied at 70 Scotty Thurman hit the biggest shot in the history of the program.  With 51 seconds left in the game and as the shot clock hit zero Scotty Thurman's sky scraping three pointer went through the net.  The shot, as Arkansas fans like to call it, clinched Arkansas first ever national championship in men's basketball.  

Arkansas finished (31-3, 14-2) they were only three points away from an unbeaten regular season.  They finshed as SEC regular season champs.  These Hogs were special!