NCAA Basketball arkansas Razorbacks

A serious situation at the University of Arkansas seemed to resolve itself last month when it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to file rape charges against three unnamed Arkansas Razorback basketball players. For a program that has had numerous off-the-court distractions and dysfunctional coaching searches, this was a small relief not to have it hanging over its head when the season got underway.

So much for that plan. Questions quickly arose surrounding the prosecutor that determined there was insufficient evidence. Now the Razorbacks are looking at a case that's being reopened by a special prosecutor appointed by the state, just as the season opener looms.

You know it has not been the best couple years for a program when the best news these days is that three unnamed Arkansas players will not face charges after being accused of rape. The players were never named, but speculation was rampant as you would expect.

A woman filed charges with the University of Arkansas Police Department, in which she alleged that she was raped at a fraternity party on August 27. The subsequent investigation found inconsistent evidence from witness and the alleged victim herself. Couple that with alcohol being involved, and it was not terribly surprising that the prosecutor declined to pursue the case.

Was it really only two-and-a-half weeks ago that Arkansas looked like one of the hottest teams, and some foolish blogger declared that the homecourt advantage of Arkansas was restored? Er, not so much. Since that heady finish to the non-conference schedule where they knocked off Oklahoma and Texas, the Razorbacks have been winless in conference play. The latest, a 73-51 loss to Auburn in Fayetteville.

This was the fourth straight loss for Arkansas since the big wins over the best of the Big 12. Not only have the Razorbacks lost their first four conference games, but two of the losses have been home losses with big second-half collapses.

The presumption was that Arkansas was a lock to be in the top-25 this week, after upsets of Oklahoma and Texas in the past couple weeks. That took a hit as the Razorbacks got stunned in the second half by Mississippi State in a 70-56 loss. Arkansas only trailed by two at the half, but let the Bulldogs shoot over 50% in the second half. The loss snapped a seventeen game home winning streak dating back to last year.

Most will see that the Razorbacks shot 3-for-22 on threes, and 23-for-64 overall as the main reason for the loss. Not so much. Arkansas was 1-for-11 in the first half on threes, and only trailed by two points. There's no question that Arkansas shot poorly. Their star freshman guard Courtney Fortson went only 2-for-13 and point guard Stefan Walsh was 4-for-16. Two of the top scorers for the Hogs were lousy. In the second half, Arkansas had two stretches of four and five minutes of going without a score.

Arkansas knocked off a Big 12 team ranked in the top-10 for the second time in eight days. This time they beat Texas 67-61. The Razorbacks completely shut down A.J. Abrams and the Longhorns got very little from the other guards.

It has been nearly a year since Arkansas lost at Bud Walton Arena, running their home winning streak to seventeen. They have also run their record this season to 12-1 with the help of 11 home games in the non-conference slate.

This was supposed to be a major rebuilding year for Arkansas with six seniors gone along with Patrick Beverley was kicked off the team for academic problems -- mainly not bothering with the academics.

While this team had incoming talent, it has been a pleasant surprise to see how quickly they have gelled from the start of the season until now. Coach John Pelphrey may not have been the first choice of Arkansas (or even their third or fourth), but he has managed to clear a lot of problems from the Stan Heath era, along with excellent recruiting and even better coaching. Plus, he and the young Hogs have made Fayetteville a feared road game for opponents once more.

The big question is how they will fair on the road. They haven't left Fayetteville since late November. It's very common for a young team like Arkansas to struggle away from home.

Being the No. 4 ranked team in the country has turned into quite a curse. For the fourth time in this young season, the No. 4 ranked team has been beaten by a non-ranked team.

First it was No. 4 UCLA losing to Michigan. Then Michigan popped No. 4 Duke. Two weeks ago, No. 4 Gonzaga lost to Arizona. Now it is No. 4 Oklahoma losing to Arkansas, 96-88.

This game wasn't that close. The Razorbacks never trailed and once had a 25-point lead over the Sooners. Oklahoma would then go on a 16-0 run to close the gap but ran out of gas.

For the first time this season, there will seemingly be some major happenings at the top of the rankings. No. 2 UConn lost to Georgetown last night and now this Oklahoma loss. No. 9 Purdue was beaten at home by Illinois tonight as well.

By the way, No. 3 Pittsburgh visits No. 11 Georgetown on Saturday.

This curse looks bad to either Duke or Wake Forest -- the most likely heirs to the No. 4 ranking.

Arkansas is planning to honor the 1994 NCAA Championship team in a ceremony before the Razorbacks' game against Georgia March 1. It will be 15 years since Scotty Thurman and the Razorbacks beat Duke for the title.

This is quite a development since former coach Nolan Richardson will be there. If you remember, Richardson was fired in 2002 after 17 seasons as head coach. He filed -- and lost -- a discrimination lawsuit against the school and there has been some bad blood between the two sides.

Interestingly, the ceremony will take place seven years to the day that the school announced they were buying out Richardson.

The AD at the time, Frank Broyles, stepped down at the end of last year and was replaced by Jeff Long. While there are still some hard feelings, it seems that Richardson and the school have put that aside so the students, alumni and players can celebrate the pinnacle moment of Razorback basketball.

Some interesting timing in announcements for the Razorbacks. After announcing a raise and one year extension for basketball coach John Pelphrey, Arkansas also announced the raising of ticket prices and the creation of 34 super-premium seats that cost $12,000 per year and are only available to those fans who donate at least $10,000 per year to the athletic department.

All well and good, but will there be anything worth watching at Bud Walton Arena? The team was already trying to rebuild and had lost four of its five leading scorers from the past year to graduation. Now the team's second leading scorer and leading rebounder is also gone for the upcoming season.

Late Friday afternoon the UA sports information department issued a two-sentence press release stating: "Junior guard Patrick Beverley will not compete for the Razorbacks in the 2008-2009 basketball season. The University of Arkansas, including its administration and coaches, will have no further comment due to student privacy laws."

By all reports, Beverley is academically ineligible. Not simply, one or two classes he has to make-up and could be ready by December academically ineligible. Apparently this is, worse. To the point, where it isn't even clear that Beverley will bother staying in Fayetteville. Instead he may be looking to go pro overseas.

The top returning scorers -- Stefan Walsh and Michael Washington -- didn't combine to average 10 points per game last season. The Razorbacks have only ten scholarship players including five true freshmen, a redshirt freshman and a junior college transfer. Not much of a doubt that Pelphrey will be earning his salary this coming season.

Here's Georgetown's Patrick Ewing Jr. at Thursday night's college basketball dunk contest in San Antonio:

Amazingly, that behind-the-back dunk didn't even get Ewing past the first round of the competition, as his first dunk was incredibly weak. Arkansas senior Sonny Weems won the title. You can see Weems' between-the-legs dunk (which in my view isn't nearly as good as Ewing's) after the jump.

When the seedings were announced for the NCAA tournament on Sunday, there was a scramble for the next level of seedings. No, not the N.I.T. or College Basketball Invitational ... but the hotels which will host each of the eight teams in the site.

Take Raleigh, for example, which hosts games of Friday and Sunday. The East's top seed North Carolina gets to stay at the Embassy Suites in nearby Cary, NC (by the way, it is just a 20-mile ride from UNC's campus to the game). Georgetown, the #2 seed in the Midwest will be at a Sheraton in Raleigh.

#16 seed Mount St. Mary's gets a Holiday Inn near the NC State campus. #15 seed Maryland-Baltimore County gets a Holiday Inn near a mall.

The director of sales and marketing for the Holiday Inn Brownstone has no problem with his hotel's low-seeded status.

"We know our place in the community," Kevin Johnson said. "We're not a four-star hotel, but there were probably 20 hotels who put in for this. So we look at it as a 'glass half-full' situation."

I guess.