FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Razorbacks fans have been so deep in their natural state of doom and gloom after Arkansas lost three straight SEC series that they probably haven't absorbed the true impact of this past weekend's sweep of the Texas Longhorns.
Not only are the Hogs within two games of Texas for the SEC crown, but they are two games ahead of the closest competition in LSU and Georgia.
That means Arkansas is about as close to a lock for a double bye in the SEC Tournament as they can be at this point. Also, the sweep put the Razorbacks atop the SEC in overall wins and secured yet another 40+ win season under head coach Dave Van Horn.
This is Van Horn's 16th 40-win season at Arkansas and the eighth consecutive season that will be completed to reach that many wins.
Arkansas started 11-5 in 2020 before that season was shut down because of COVID.
"We needed to win the series," Van Horn said. "We'd lost three in a row. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, life in the SEC, it's tough. About the time you think you've got it figured out, somebody will get you three times on the weekend.
"... To lose three in a row, that was tough. We're playing really good teams, it didn't go our way. Nobody swept us. We just kept hanging in there to find a way to win another game. Almost won another one, but we didn't do it."
The season now becomes a race to 50+ wins, something Arkansas has only done once under Van Horn. However, if the Hogs reach such a high mark, it should have more significance than the last time it happened.
In 2021 the Razorbacks went 50-13, but lost to NC State in the Super Regional after blowing out the Wolfpack 21-2 in the opening game. Arkansas' two most successful recent seasons came in 2018 when the Hogs were a dropped fly ball from winning the College World Series, ending the year with 48 wins, and 2022 when Arkansas got beat twice by an Ole Miss team that barely made the tournament to miss out playing in the CWS championship series eventually won by the Rebels.
That loss dropped the Hogs to 46-21 and sent the program into a postseason tailspin that has led to less playoff success each season, culminating with Arkansas not even making the finals of its own regional last year.
Theoretically, the Razorbacks should win at least one game in each of its two remaining series and one in the SEC Tournament. So, working with the idea the Hogs will have at least three wins heading into the playoffs, it will take three to get out of the regional and two more to advance from the super regional.
That puts Arkansas at 48 wins heading into the College World Series. There, the Razorbacks will need to collect five wins to claim a championship, putting the Hogs at a minimum of 53 wins for the year.
That would break the 51-win records of the 1985 team that was honored this weekend and the 1987 team that ties that record shortly after. It would also mean accomplishing something either of those two loaded rosters were unable to accomplish — winning a championship.
However, that's all a lot of wishful thinking at this point. After all, Arkansas just won its first SEC series in a month, even if it was a sweep over the nation's No. 1 team.
The real test as to whether the Razorbacks are back on track will come as LSU and Tennessee close the season for the Hogs. If that goes well, then will come the time for fans and players to dream of program records and championships.
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