It may have been a stunning upset for most when Arkansas-Pine Bluff beat Arkansas' women's basketball team 74-70 on Sunday, but for the under-budgeted Golden Lions it was one shining moment.
Led by fourth-year coach Dawn Thornton, the Golden Lions overcame a 12-point deficit for the win, and as Razorbacks coach Mike Neighbors said, they won through hustle and determination.
This is a team that may be 4-7 on the season but they’ve played only two home games and traveled for games with Oregon and Oregon State, Tulsa, Mississippi State, Clemson, Arkansas State, SMU and North Texas.
That’s at least two weeks of hotel stays since Nov. 6, and now they return from Fayetteville victorious as they go into semester finals.
Their next game is at home against Ole Miss at 1 p.m. on Dec. 21.
Both the men’s and women’s programs play a lot of guaranteed money games for the program but they get it, and Athletic Director Chris Robinson gets it and lets them know how much he appreciates what they do for the Golden Lions.
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Another send-shivers-down-your-back moment happened Saturday when Harding University stomped Lenoir-Rhyne 55-14 to advance to the Division II National Championship on Saturday against Colorado School of Mines in McKinney, Texas.
Head coach Paul Simmons is a born-and-bred Arkie who has led the Bisons on an incredible six-season journey that may have slightly fallen into the shadows around the state as one of their rivals, Ouachita Baptist led by Todd Knight, were racking up three undefeated regular seasons and three 9-2 seasons.
Simmons though was never far behind and usually their annual showdown determined the winner of the Great American Conference.
Harding is currently 14-0, and since Simmons became the head coach at Harding in 2017 the Bisons are an amazing 64-13 and have made the playoffs every year but one. The 2020 season was canceled because of covid-19.
Simmons grew up in Ashdown, played high school football there and played at Harding University from 1991-94. He was a first-team All-American three times as a defensive back and defensive end.
And after his win Saturday, his sons and Harding Academy won the Class 4A state championship.
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It is way too early to decide how any college football program is doing in the transfer portal after one week of it being open.
Of the top 25 transfers, 19 are still undecided. Of those six are quarterbacks, and considering the top three finalists for the Heisman Trophy were quarterbacks who transferred, that number might be low.
Again, it is early, but so far it appears Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman and his staff have a mind of their own about what they are searching for. They do have several portal recruits scheduled to visit this week.
It appears the portal is more than a place for a player to go if he is unhappy with his playing time or just wants a change of scenery. Apparently it is also where players go to be bid on through name, image and likeness.
A source said one Razorback who entered the portal had been told he would have to take a reduction from his more than $300,000 deal and he said goodbye within 24 hours.
The portal, to a degree, has some direction with specific dates an athlete can opt to transfer, while the NIL is still totally out of control and the rich are getting richer by the day.
When congress can find time to quit feuding and fix this, one of the areas that needs to be addressed is most players get their money up front before playing one down.