Game 11: Arkansas Razorbacks at Vanderbilt Commodores — Open Game Thread

Oh, good. The Arkansas Razorbacks.

Vanderbilt never beats Arkansas, a belief of many Vanderbilt fans that is sort of backed up by the facts; in fact, Vanderbilt is 12-28 all-time against the Razorbacks, so there are a few wins in there but Vanderbilt’s .300 winning percentage does represent their lowest winning percentage against any SEC team not named Kentucky.

Anyway, Vanderbilt has lost six in a row to the Razorbacks and four in a row at Memorial Gym, with the Commodores’ last home win over the Razorbacks coming all the way back in 2013. The less said about Arkansas’s last visit to Memorial Gym, the better: the 84-48 Senior Night drubbing was Bryce Drew’s Last Stand, the utterly awful performance that caused even his remaining supporters to jump off the tracks and get out of the way of the Fire Drew train. Last season, Vanderbilt lost to Arkansas twice, a 75-55 loss in Fayetteville on January 20, and an 86-73 loss in the first round of the SEC Tournament in what would end up being the final SEC game of the year (in, well, pretty much any sport.)

This year, Arkansas started 9-0 with a nonconference schedule that didn’t feature a team better than North Texas, and after opening SEC play with a win at Auburn reality has set in a bit for the Razorbacks, with four losses in their last six. Those four losses have come by an average of 16.3 ppg, and while that’s definitely skewed by a 31-point loss to the buzzsaw known as Alabama, they haven’t been playing well and given Eric Musselman’s habit of loading up on transfers every year, I couldn’t even tell you who plays for Arkansas.

In other words, get your hopes up for this one. Have fun, expect to win, and Anchor Down.