It’s Christmas in Arkansas!

No?

It sure does feel like it because of the most highly anticipated season of Razorback basketball since the 1994-95 season. Arkansas hasn’t won a national championship since the 1993-94 season, but there’s plenty of excitement to go around and it’s warranted.

Arkansas is bringing in 3 “diaper dandies” as legendary ESPN commentator Dick Vitale is famous for saying. Nick Smith Jr., Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh were all McDonald’s All-Americans coming out of high school and 5-star, top-20 prospects depending on which recruiting service used. Coming off back-to-back Elite 8 runs in the NCAA Tournament, head coach Eric Musselman has shown that he is capable of leading a roster of veterans or freshmen to March Madness success.

This team is different though. The roster has a perfect combination of your young bucks (6 freshmen), impressive transfers (5) and returning players (2). Let’s not waste any time as we break down what to look for this season.

1. Year 4 on the “Muss Bus”

What kind of music do you think Musselman, his staff and players listen to on this bus? I think it’ll always be something that can resonate with everyone. Something that brings the whole team together with 1 thing in mind and that’s winning the whole thing.

Musselman’s overall record at Arkansas is 73-28 and 33-20 in the SEC. Former coach Mike Anderson left a solid foundation for Musselman to build on and has he ever exceeded expectations from the jump. If it weren’t for COVID-19 cancelling the SEC and NCAA tournaments, Arkansas would have found itself with an at-large bid the 1st season. Back-to-back Elite 8 appearances have put the Hogs back on the map and tells the college basketball world Arkansas is back under Musselman.

2. The other freshmen

Arkansas welcomes in 3 other true freshmen who were ranked in the top 100 by ESPN:

— Derrian Ford, No. 71

— Barry Dunning Jr., No. 74

— Joseph Pinion, No. 89

Dunning surprised Musselman during their overseas trip as a guy who put in the work with film and scouting. It’s a piece of the game that the coaching staff takes very seriously.

Ford comes to Arkansas as a 2-time Gatorade Player of the Year out of Magnolia. He’s built like a truck and could play a few minutes this season.

Pinion is a freshman many fans had pegged as a redshirt from the moment he signed. However, he might have carved himself out a role as a “3-and-D” type of player.

3. The Transfers

Where do we start? Who’s going to be the most important one?

The Mitchell twins were highly regarded signees with Maryland. They transferred to Rhode Island and showed they were the 2 best players on the roster. Now, at Arkansas they will look to reach the NBA and the Razorback staff has a track record of getting guys there.

Ricky Council IV transferred in from Wichita State after a stellar sophomore campaign, where he averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds per contest.

First-team All-Pac 12 forward Jalen Graham bolsters the frontcourt, providing a scoring and rebounding presence.

The Athletic might be selling him short but Trevon Brazile, the Missouri transfer, could be the most talented transfer that Arkansas brought in. No, his stats as a Tiger won’t pop off the screen at you but he does have the opportunity to be a star. During the overseas trip and exhibition season, Brazile was flying up and down the court, leading defense to offense and flushing down alley-oops.

Replacing All-SEC forward Jaylin Williams isn’t impossible, but Arkansas will do it by committee.

4. Three-Point Shooting

Arkansas hasn’t necessarily shot the ball well from deep during Musselman’s tenure. A 33.4% clip in 2019-20, 33.3% in 2020-21 and then a dreadful 30.9% last season.

What Arkansas teams have done is substitute scoring from 3-point land with defense, driving to the basket and free-throw shooting.

This season, Arkansas has 2 players who could bang it from deep. Those 2 are freshmen in Smith and Pinion.

5. Perfectly Manicured

It’s a funny tidbit, OK? Rising junior Davonte “Devo” Davis was on the set of SEC Now during SEC Media Days casually talking about his Razorbacks being voted as the 2nd-best team in the conference. Until an interesting topic came up, Davis’ manicured nails were on display.

Musselman was asked about the manicure and apparently there’s 8 other Hogs with polished nails, too. The head hog was asked about his thoughts on his team’s appearance and said he doesn’t really care about what they wear or how they paint their nails, as long as they win.

6. Lob City

Throughout the offseason, the Razorback social media team would randomly post alley-oop dunks, displaying just how athletic this new roster can be this season. There were a few highlight oops in Arkansas’ exhibition matchup against Rogers State, too.

Yeah, this 1 will have Bud Walton Arena rocking …

7. Size at all positions

It’s been a very long time since Arkansas had this much height at each position. There are combinations where your shortest player on the court is your point guard — Black, at 6-9.

8. Turkey Time Road Trip — Destination: Maui, Hawaii

Questions that need to be answered will probably be given to us right away with the Maui Invitational. The Razorbacks have 3 warmup games to begin the season, all at home against North Dakota State, Fordham and South Dakota State.

Arkansas will meet up with Louisville in the opening round of the Maui tournament and see quality foe Creighton or old Southwest Conference rival Texas Tech, depending on a win or loss.

It’s a loaded bracket in Maui this season with Ohio State, San Diego State, Cincinnati and Arizona there as well.

9. Kentucky Double Dip

It hasn’t happened very often, but Arkansas and Kentucky meet for a home-and-home series in SEC play for the 1st time since 2014. Coincidently, the Hogs swept the Wildcats that season behind a huge game-winning dunk by Michael Qualls at the overtime horn.

10. Auburn Road Conference Game

This is a huge revenge game for Auburn after falling to the Hogs as the No. 1 team in the country last season.

The Tigers have built quite the basketball program on The Plains behind Bruce Pearl and don’t look to be slowing down soon. It’ll surely be a packed house and a primetime matchup with plenty of eyes glued to their TVs around the country. This one is definitely going to be an instant classic.

Arkansas leads the all-time series, 37-20. However, Auburn has been quite dangerous at home, going 13-14 against the Hogs.

Prediction: 34-5 overall, 14-4 SEC

Postseason prediction: A loss in the national title game

Why am I picking Arkansas to go so far in the tournament this season? Well, history shows that Musselman has overachieved in each season while at Arkansas.

His 1st team had no player taller than 6-7 on the roster who was eligible to play that season. Arkansas won 20 games behind an SEC Player of the Year who no one but I saw coming. Really, go check out my old tweets from 2019 and 2020.

Anyway, the 2nd season saw Arkansas hampered with piecing together a roster around 5-star freshman Moses Moody and the 4th-ranked recruiting class. The Hogs made it all the way to the Elite 8 before matching up with eventual national champion Baylor, ultimately losing that game.

Then, with a roster not nearly as talented as the year prior, Arkansas overachieved once again. Defense, driving to the hoop and free-throw shooting were the keys to a 2nd-half regular-season turnaround. Ultimately, the Hogs fell short of their quest for their 1st Final Four since 1995, losing to Duke in the Elite 8.

This season shows plenty of potential, and recent history tells us it could be one for the history books.