In honor of this week’s official start of the national holiday known as March Madness, we’ve asked some of our regular contributors to weigh in with their takes on the tournament. First up is the inimitable Tab Prewett, who has previously shared his thoughts on a variety of topics, including the Cotton Bowl and the epic win over LSU last fall. Now, join Tab on a trip down memory lane that begins at Maxine’s Bar in 1978 and winds up (potentially) in Hawg Heaven this weekend:

While reading the brilliant series on the 1978 Razorbacks’ journey to the Final Four by Whit E. Knight, and now with March Madness upon us, thoughts about that magnificent season came back, like the beer often does from the night before. As a dual blurred vision of Maxine’s Bar and Sidney Moncrief dunking in UCLA’s All-American David Greenwood’s face returned to me, like little Marcel Proust chomping on a Madeleine, I recalled that transcendent night when we beat UCLA to move on to the Elite Eight. Several of us so-called students (athletes we were not) descended on Maxine’s and drank pitcher after pitcher while chanting in not-so-perfect harmony and unison: “We beat UCLA. We beat UCLA. We beat UCLA.”

It must say something about my academic interests that my most Proustian memories of my days at Arkansas revolve around March Madness and not scholarly research, but, hey, we’re Hawg fans, not uptight, snooty Dukies, or those holier-than-thou Chapel Hill UNC bluebloods that we may face this year in the second round. In 1995 Corliss put a pounding on Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse in the semi-finals and Arkansas took out another Basketball Hallowed Almighty, even with the Dean of the Four Corners Smith coaching. Beating UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Michigan, Georgetown, Louisville, and, yes, Indiana – that’s why March Madness is so thrilling, because the chance of the upset always exists.

Of course, one has to assess the team with the chance to pull the upset, and that brings us to this year’s team, which by unanimous consent has been committed to the Arkansas State Hospital for the Insane for instant and intense psychotherapy. I watched the Georgia game and was as demoralized and as disappointed and yet totally unsurprised as everybody else. Now, it’s Monday afternoon and believe me, by Friday night I’ll be frothing with hatred of Indiana (doesn’t hurt that my ex-wife grew up in Indianapolis, otherwise a nice city) and high with anticipation of our victory. But do I realistically expect a win? No. Again, can we win? Of course.

The question is how, and I have five keys that within five minutes of the game Friday night will determine whether we win or lose. If Arkansas fails in any one of these five areas in the first five minutes, turn off your television, go to the internet, and start making flight reservations for some island to take your mind off your troubles.

(Read on …)

It’s been too long since we’ve heard from one of our favorite commenters, Tab Prewett, who provided heroic work with his pre- and post-game analysis for the LSU football game and the Cotton Bowl, which can be found here, here, here and here. Below, Tab gives us his thoughts on the basketball team, from both before and after Wednesday’s victory over LSU.

Feb. 20, 2008 - Tonight we play LSU, but I have no enthusiasm. Why? It’s February, and the gray skies linger, and March Madness is several weeks away. And the Razorbacks have lost two in a row.

Honestly, I have little faith in this basketball team. Visions of championship banners are immediately blackened by noncompetitive losses. I still see Hill unable to score, Beverley in the midst of a sophomore slump, Thomas trying to recover from his suspension and Pelphrey in need of guards to press more. Road games loom as insurmountable obstacles.

Yes, this basketball team can be dominating, exciting and inspiring. Then within 10minutes, they will play uninspired and insipid basketball, putting to sleep the most rabid Razorback homer.

(Read on …)

After his excellent work before and after the LSU game and his top-notch pre-Cotton Bowl analysis, we once again turn to one of our favorite commenters, Tab Prewett, to get his thoughts on the New Year’s Day bloodletting in Dallas. So, sit back and enjoy his feisty take on the latest sorry chapter in Arkansas’ pathetic bowl history:

Losing breeds negativity, and we’re now left with nine months of negative memories of the Nutt era, each inept area on prominent display yesterday. Fortunately, the Nutt era is finished because I don’t think I could stand another few years of special teams bumbles, offensive dullness, defensive inconsistency and terrible quarterback play. What was consistent about Nutt’s teams was their inconsistency. Like the emotions of the man himself, when Nutt’s teams were down, they were awful.

The main reason we even played in the Cotton Bowl was in homage to both Broyles’ legacy and the certainty that Arkansas fans would buy a large number of tickets and secure a Cotton Bowl profit. Truthfully, neither team should have been in the Cotton Bowl. We deserved lesser, Missouri greater. Because of our tradition of impeccable Dallas attendance, we got thrown into a game against a superior team motivated to show it deserved more respect, while we had to play amidst the chaos of a coaching search and with the self-satisfaction of just being glad to be there. Scarily, it could have been much worse.

When Missouri stuffed the I-formation numerous times in the first half, I kept waiting for a total commitment to the WildHog. David Lee stuck though to the standard offense, and we suffered because of it. With no blocking, Darren and Felix had no hope. When we went to the Wildhog in the third quarter and scored, I thought maybe Lee would see the light. But, no, like a trained dog, he went back to his Nutt tricks, hoping against all odds that Casey Dick would suddenly make plays. We’ve all seen Dick under pressure before, and it’s an ugly sight.

(Read on …)

After his excellent commentary before and after the LSU game this fall, we once again turned to one of our favorite commenters, Tab Prewett, to get his thoughts on the Cotton Bowl. So, sit back and enjoy his take on Missouri, bowl traditions and the often-maddening addiction that is being a Razorback fan:

Arkansas versus Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, and I keep asking myself: Why don’t I care? Despite Missouri’s miraculous season, I’ve been mired in a post-LSU ennui, bored by Missouri’s history of mediocrity, and completely uninspired by the prospect of Arkansas losing another bowl game. I’d rather pound a pathetic Notre Dame or take another long shot at beating USC, or even engage damned Texas again instead of play Missouri and its surplus of offensive weapons led by Heisman nominee Chase Daniels. A great game needs a great traditional rival or a championship to play for. This game has neither.

Yet, Missouri represents a historical landmark for me, as in September of 1963 my father and I drove to Little Rock and I saw my first Razorback game, against none other than Missouri. Unfortuantely, Arkansas, a team with all the players who would win the 1964 National Championship, lost on a missed extra point 7-6. Skipping ahead four decades, the next time I recall Arkansas playing Missouri (and this is entirely by memory as my catatonia has prevented me from any research) was the 2003 Independence Bowl where Matt Jones and Cedric Cobbs outscored Brad Smith by some unmemorable score. That’s it, no rivalry, no bitter shirt-ripping-off, television-smashing defeats, no party-all-night wins, just two forgettable games and 40 years. That Missouri is not a traditional enemy leaves me without enmity. We might fear the unknown, but we sure don’t hate it.

Still, it is the Cotton Bowl, site of not only the 10-7 win over Nebraska in 1965 where we did secure our only football national championship, but also the Millennium destruction of despicable Texas, 27-6. Nor can we forget our allegiance to Dallas, where Nolan’s “Forty Minutes of Hell” teams romped and dunked their way through several NCAA regionals and NCAA tournaments. For the future we have the much-anticipated eight-year series with Texas A&M which will guarantee the Razorback presence in Dallas will grow even greater.

Dallas and the Cotton Bowl resonate with Razorback tradition, but Missouri, for me, is an uninspiring, if supremely worthy, opponent.

So I still don’t care. Why?

(Read on …)

With most of our staff scattered to the seven winds for the Thanksgiving holiday, we are operating with a skeleton crew here at RazorbackExpats. To help us keep things up and running, we have turned to one of our regular readers and commenters, the always entertaining Tab Prewett, who has graciously agreed to provide his analysis of yesterday’s epic win against No. 1 LSU. Here now is his take: 

Pre-Game Notes:

LSU looks fired up and confident prior to coming onto the field. How well Dick and Monk play are touted as keys to the game. For me, it’s our defense – can they stop LSU, ever? Nutt’s inspirational “Mamas, Granmamas, and aunts” speech doesn’t do much for me, but maybe it’s what players need. I hope we don’t get booted by Les Miles. He can’t even pronounce Arkansas.

After-Game Thoughts:

We stopped the slant pass!! We stopped the slant pass!! 50-48, 50-48, 50-48!!!!!! The boot is back where it belongs - and maybe Les Miles can pronounce Arkansas now.

Nutt must have asked also for some heroes because many stepped forward. In our best game of the year, the heroes weren’t just McFadden and Jones, but included Peyton Hillis, Casey Dick, Michael Grant, Materrial Richardson and the entire offensive line.

And did I mention Texas lost?

In the first half the defense saved us. Looking back, LSU should have been up by a few touchdowns after the first quarter. I have to give Herring and the defense credit. They shut LSU down enough that we were able to stay in the game and begin to wear LSU down. Consider how we turned the game around: We had only one first down in the first quarter and ended up with around 500 yards of offense.

Also, before the game I worried about Nutt’s play-calling. I thought we would move the ball but stop ourselves and maybe not score. Nutt went quickly to the WildHog and stayed with it for what seemed like 75 percent of the game. Only once did I question a call, and that was punting on 4th and 2 from about the 40 of LSU. Yet, that even worked out okay. I don’t think anyone could question Nutt’s play-calling yesterday.To imagine how dominant our offense was yesterday is difficult. We were on the road at a number-one ranked team known for its run defense and home field intimidation factor, a team playing for a national championship. But not only did we run some, we just pounded and pounded and pounded them.

How many LSU players were laid out from hits by our players? At the same time, I don’t recall any Hogs being helped off the field. McFadden blew up 27 once. Early Doucet had trouble getting up several times. Even Casey Dick got a pancake block on DMac’s 73-yard run. It’s called bringing the wood, now, after the “bat” motivational technique, and it sure worked. We owned the line of scrimmage, and LSU never stopped us. When they did, Casey Dick hit Hillis or Monk or Lucas Miller or Davies for crucial third-down conversions. Heroes were everywhere, and they were bashing Cajuns all game.

(Read on …)

With most of our staff scattered to the seven winds for the Thanksgiving holiday, we are operating with a skeleton crew here at RazorbackExpats. To help us keep things up and running, we have turned to one of our regular readers and commenters, the always entertaining Tab Prewett. Tab has graciously agreed to provide both pre- and post-game analysis of tomorrow’s battle against No. 1 LSU. Here now is his pre-game take:

While drinking at the ESPN Zone last year in Times Square and watching Darren McFadden annihilate South Carolina, I, somewhat inebriated, struck up a conversation with some other SEC fans watching LSU on another screen. Inevitably, the future resting place of the Boot arose, and I was shouted down by a drunken belligerent Cajun, who was more wasted than me, much louder than me, and, hard to believe, more impassioned than I was about his team, those damned talented Bayou Bengals, who have been breaking Razorback hearts since the 1966 Cotton Bowl, when our long 22-game win streak was broken and our chance to be Numero Uno went down by the score of 14-7.

Cajun Boy shouted and shouted and shouted, “That Boot’s gonna be up yor ass. That Boot’s gonna be up yor ass. That Boot’s gonna be up yor ass.” His enthusiasm and insistence ultimately won me over, and I had to agree, that Boot was gonna be up my ass. And it was a month later when LSU ended our dreams of not only a National Championship, but an undefeated SEC season, and began a real depressing period of Hawgdom, where, as we all know, we lost five straight SEC games. Thank God for Ole Miss.

We all anticipate the LSU game every year knowing they set the bar in the SEC West, if not the entire nation. This year we have two reasons to watch with even greater interest. We want to see if McFadden can have a miracle game that can salvage a Heisman Trophy that he alone in this country deserves, and would have had, were it not for the miscues of a coaching staff early in the season. We also want to see if Houston Nutt, who was in charge of those early season coaching mistakes, can somehow artfully dodge the hook that is alleged to snag him as soon as the LSU game ends.

(Read on …)