In the 10 seasons prior to Eddie Sutton's decision to become head coach at Arkansas instead of Duke, the Razorbacks had suffered eight losing seasons.
The two winning seasons weren't exactly bragging points with mediocre 13-10 and 16-10 records.
Not a lot was known about Sutton when he arrived, other than he had a charming disposition and had turned Creighton's program around. He also never had a losing season.
It was quickly discovered that Sutton was a basketball purist. He knew not to challenge the football program, but he knew there was room for basketball, too.
In his third season, the Razorbacks went 26-2 and 16-0 in Southwest Conference play, and the Hogs never finished worst than second in the conference and made the NCAA Tournament nine consecutive times, including the Final Four in 1978.
He was so successful that Kentucky lured him away, which was a move up the career ladder. Razorback games were sold out years in advance, and Sutton's record was 260-75.
Razorback basketball was and is an established prime-time sport.
A banner will be raised Saturday night and hung from the rafters in Walton Arena to honor Sutton. Although some are still in shock over a home loss to Auburn on Wednesday night, the fans still should support this team and Sutton.
When Sutton retired, he did so with an overall record of 806-329, one of only eight coaches to reach the 800-win mark. He is a finalist for the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On March 12, he will be 80 years old.
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No one, especially the oddsmakers who made the Razorbacks a 15-point favorite, expected the Hogs to lose at home to Auburn.
First, Arkansas doesn't lose at home very often.
Secondly, Auburn hasn't won very often. The Tigers had lost seven consecutive games by a total of 137 points going into Wednesday's game with the Razorbacks.
Arkansas took a nine-point lead with 13:55 to play, and the 8,000 or so on hand made it sound like a packed house.
So what happened?
The Tigers didn't wilt, which was expected by everyone, including the Razorbacks.
They were red hot shooting: Some of that was them, some of it was a lack of defense.
The Hogs were not as hot shooting, and they were icy cold at the free-throw line, making just 19 of 31 (Auburn was even colder making just 9 of 19).
In Hawgball, it is about getting more attempted shots than your opponent, and Arkansas did that 66-54. It is about getting steals, and the Razorbacks had 12 and forced a total of 21 turnovers, which they converted into 26 points.
It is also about pressure on the ball, and that was not there as Auburn got enough open looks to make 33 field goals, 15 of them three-pointers.
Now the Razorbacks are facing the hard fact that if they don't snap out of this three-game losing skid, they are going to play on the first day of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday as one of the four lowest seeds.
This team does not have the depth to win five games in five days.
Right now the Hogs probably need to win all their regular-season games just to be on the NIT's radar.
Mike Anderson shook up his starting lineup after back-to-back losses in Mississippi, and while that upped the bench scoring to 31 -- 18 by Dusty Hannahs and 7 by Manny Watkins -- the new starters were scoreless.
This is not a typical Hawgball team. Not sure how many of these guys could have started for Nolan Richardson, but the team is better than it has played the past three games.
Sports on 02/19/2016