By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — The provocateur on the car radio raised the question about the biggest deal — College World Series or Elite Eight — and the basketball accomplishment was an immediate winner.
The next hour, there was cause for pause when he revised the query to College World Series or Sweet Sixteen. Basketball wins again because the NCAA Tournament is such a captivating event and the followers of basketball and football far outnumber those who love the ping of aluminum against cowhide.
But, getting to Omaha, Neb., for baseball might be more difficult than reaching the third round of the basketball tournament. In baseball, a team has to survive a four-team double elimination weekend, then move on and win a three-game series.
Ole Miss has opened the best-of-three Super Regional with a victory three of the past five years, but has not been to the CWS since 1972. Even a No. 1 seed can have a difficult time — note No. 1 Oklahoma at home vs. Arkansas 10 days ago.
This year, five of the eight No. 1 seeds are still alive. Last year, six of eight made it to Omaha.
A basketball team only has to win two games in three days to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In March, all eight of the top seeds reached the third round. A No. 1 never loses in the first round and it’s rare when it happens to a No. 2.
Arkansas winning its way to Omaha was a surprise because people were wrapped up in the season-ending losing streak and forgot about earlier accomplishments, including beating then-No. 1 Arizona State twice and being No. 1 for a few days.
Near the end of the regular season, there was a tendency to equate that pinnacle and backslide to the basketball team’s downward spiral after its sweep of Oklahoma and Texas, but John Pelphrey’s group never cracked The AP’s top 25.
The baseball season is twice as long as the basketball season and losses pile up. Every team in Omaha has lost at least a dozen games and Arkansas has 22 Ls.
So, where does making the College World Series rank as far as a season-long accomplishment by an Arkansas team since the last CWS trip in 2004?
Currently at the top of the list are the NCAA Indoor track titles in 2005 and 2006. Expected, but never fully appreciated, they were, after all, national championships.
Football and basketball will always have the most universal appeal, so consider accomplishments in those sports in the past five years.
The 2007-08 basketball team finished second in the Western Division and won a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. That glow lasted 48 hours, until North Carolina scored 108.
The 2006 football team opened with a 36-point loss to USC, but then won 10 in a row and reached the Southeastern Conference championship game for only the third time in school history. Consecutive losses to LSU, Florida and Wisconsin tarnished the finished product.
Almost overlooked, the Arkansas golf team recently came agonizingly close to a national championship. The Razorbacks lost on the final hole of the final match when a Texas A&M player who was staggering pulled off the equivalent of a half-court buzzer beater or a Hail Mary pass.
If Dave Van Horn’s team claims the trophy in Omaha, baseball would bump track from the No. 1 spot on the list of team successes in the past five years. If the Razorbacks win their bracket, they will be No. 2 ahead of golf. If not, No. 3 ain’t bad for a team picked fourth in the Western Division of the SEC.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
