Plus the first of plenty of season predictions.
This past weekend saw the beginning of the satellite camp era for Arkansas. Bret Bielema and his staff went to Little Rock for the All-Arkansas camp extravaganza on Sunday, and the Hogs were one of 12 in-state schools present. Clearly the amount of prospects that Arkansas looked at this weekend were limited, but Bielema says there are plenty of positives of having the camp. Promoting the Arkansas brand of football was something he was particularly high on. In the near future the staff will be going to other camps in some recruiting hotbeds like Houston, Atlanta and Florida, all areas that have brought some big talents to Fayetteville.
Between now and September there are going to be tons of season predictions, one of the first is here from Harry King. One thing you can always bet on: close games involving Arkansas this year, and how well the new faces get comfortable in new roles will be key. I for the most part agree with the games picked here, and think the overall record will be about the same. There is just one caveat with it, and none of the games predicted have Arkansas or their opponents going over 30 points, and last season showed us that is bound to be too low, even if the defense is firing on all cylinders.
Last week, ESPN listed the players with the best odds to get 1,000 yards receiving. This week they flipped it to the defensive side, listing who was most likely to get double digit sacks. Deatrich Wise is the lone Hog on the list. He finished with eight last year, and picking up two more won’t be out of the question this year. The list also shows how insanely deep the SEC West is going to be on the defensive line this year.
A quick bit of baseball news, the SEC Baseball Tournament is staying in Hoover for next season. The future of the tournament was up in the air with bids from cities Memphis, Jacksonville, Nashville and New Orleans. While it would be nice to see some rotation among the host cities like basketball has done recently, the tournament did set an attendance record this year, so it makes sense that the SEC is keeping it there.