Arkansas 100+ - Auburn 80ish

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Overview

Arkansas returns its core from last years 10-8 SEC team. Bobby Portis is 3rd in the league in scoring and is a Naismaith POY candidate. Michael Qualls is 8th in the league in scoring and continues to make highlight reel dunks. Arkansas also returns veterans Ky Madden, Alandise Harris, and Anthlon Bell along with sophomores Moses Kingsley and Manuale Watkins. Freshman Anton Beard has fit in to the rotation nicely so far, as has newcomer Jabril Durham.

Ten players average double digit minutes per game for the Hogs. As a team, Arkansas shoots 39.1% from three, nearly 6 points better than Florida, who ranks second in the SEC. Portis and Kingsley each have 14 blocks so far this year.

Arkansas also leads the league in scoring per game(85.1) and assists per game. The Hogs rank 5th in FT pct.(72.9) 2nd in FG pct.(47.8) 7th in blocked shots, and 6th in rebounds per game.

The Schedule

By SEC standards, the schedule is soft. Kentucky once, Florida once, LSU once. UK and UF are on the road. Arkansas gets LSU at home. Arkansas also makes trips to UGA, Mizzou, South Carolina, Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, and State. All very winnable games. Arkansas won at UK a year ago, as Cal is 1-4 against Arkansas in his last 5 games. Of any team in the league, Arkansas can match UK's depth.

The home slate isn't very difficult either. Vandy, Ole Miss, Bama, Tennessee, South Carolina, State, Mizzou, aTm, and LSU. Alabama seems formidable this season and LSU will be a great one to close out the regular season. Worst case, Arkansas loses two game games at home. All of us know, Arkansas rarely loses at home, so two losses would be more surprising than being undefeated.


Season is a success if.....

Arkansas goes 5-4 or 4-5 in league road games. The road slate isn't too terribly tough, so it's manageable. Winning at Georgia to begin SEC play is huge. Arkansas could and should go undefeated at home. This puts the Arkansas league win total at 13 or 14 games and being 24-7 or 25-6 overall. If that happens, Arkansas could be looking at a 3-6 seed come tourney time.

But can they win on the road......

SEC Starting Lineup
Guard: Jabril Durham(6'1" 185lb JR.)
Guard: Ky Madden(6'5" 185lb SR.)
Guard: Michael Qualls(6'6" 210lb JR.)
Forward: Bobby Portis(6'11" 245lb SO.)
Forward: Moses Kingsley(6'11" 240lb SO.)

"The Other 5"
Alandise Harris(6'6" SR.)
Jacorey Williams(6'8" JR.)
Anthlon Bell(6'3" JR.)
Manuale Watkins(6'3" SO.)
Anton Beard(6'0" FR)

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