re: Will Petrino/Arky still be able to duck ASU with Malzahn as coach?

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In March 1987, for the only time since 1948, Arkansas played Arkansas State in basketball.

To set the stage: Nolan Richardson was in his second season at Arkansas and, before the contest against ASU, had compiled a record of 30-29 at the school. Speculation was rampant that a loss to the then-Indians - whom, along with other in-state schools, Frank Broyles refused to schedule regular-season games against - would result in Nolan getting canned.

Richardson has long maintained that Frank assured him before the game that his job was safe, regardless of how the game against ASU turned out. However, I have always found it hard to believe that Frank wouldn't have fired Nolan if the Hogs had lost this game. This, after all, is a man who fired Jack Crowe immediately following a season-opening loss to The Citadel, and losing to Arkansas State surely ranked very, very high on the athletic director's list of nightmare scenarios.

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