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!

Greatest Hog Teams of All Time 6-10

In honor of what Razorback basketball used to be we here at The Sports Blitz will be giving you lots of lists when it comes to the Razorbacks and we will even mix in some college basketball this month. Well, this is the month of madness. We are going to start with the 10 greatest basketball teams in Arkansas basketball history.

10. 1989 This team lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to a number four seeded Louisville team. They beat Loyola Marymount 120-101 in the first round of the tournament. The results are not what made this team great, but it was the start of the greatness of Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks. Senior Keith Wilson led this team, but it was three heralded Freshman named Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, and Oliver Miller who were the catalyst of the three consecutive SWC championships and an SEC championship (25-7, 13-3)

9. 1993 This team was led by a Senior named Darrell Hawkins. This guy stepped his game up to lead these baby hogs to the Sweet 16 and a loss to the eventual National Champion North Carolina 80-74. They gave them all they wanted in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Much like the 1989 team this team was the year before greatness. A couple of Freshman had huge impacts on this team. Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman. Most people forget that it was Thurman that had the biggest impact his Freshman year because Williamson was hurt for half the year. These Hogs finished (22-9, 10-6) not great, but they did post a victory at Arizona. Had they beaten North Carolina the 1993 team might have made a run at the national championship.

8. 1983 Eddie Sutton started this tradition in the modern era in baskeball. This is one of Arkansas 10 sweet 16 appearances. This team is not one of Arkansas many conference champions though. There was a team called the Houston Cougars had future NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, but Arkansas gave them some battles. Many of these battles were led by a Notre Dame transfer Joe Klein. Arkansas lost a heart breaker to tournament foe Louisville 65-63 in the sweet 16 as a four seed. This team finished (26-4, 14-2).

7. 1977 This was another team that was before greatness (1978 final four). Have you ever heard of Sidney Moncrief, Marvin Delph, and Ron Brewer? These are the guys that started it all under Eddie Sutton. The only thing about this team is they lost in the first round of the tournament to Wake Forest, but they finished (26-2). The reason they get to be up in the greatest they were the only undefeated (16-0) in conference.

6. 1979 The 1979 team went (25-5, 13-3) and after their final four appearance in 1978 they felt like they could win the whole thing. This was a very good team and went to the tournament as a two seed. Only problem was they had to play a one seeded Indiana State and in that year they had a guy named Larry Bird. In one of the greatest games of all-time in Hog basketball history Larry Bird hit a two pointer (no threes back then) to put the dagger in the hearts of the Hogs. ISU wins 73-71.  That shot sent Bird and ISU to the Final Four where they ran into Michigan State and Magic Johnson.  Many think that had Bird not hit that shot the Hogs might have been the champs this year.