NCAA Basketball: Creighton, Arkansas, and Big Ten headline this weeks Sunday Mailbag

After a week off the Sunday Mailbag is back to answer all your questions on the goings on in College Basketball. As many of you are familiar this is the only time in the week where fans get to ask me questions. They would like to have answered about their favorite teams and conferences. Often, I get asked questions about things that have been mentioned in the media throughout the week instead of specific questions about teams. Those are my favorite types of questions to answer. If you would like to ask a question, be sure to check on social media and ask me a question you would like answered.

 This week there was one question asked to me about the team who has been the most disappointing at this point in the season. There are endless teams who could fit into that category. That was the only question I received this week. I went ahead and added two things that I wanted to highlight and one of them was about some coaches in the Big Ten who will be searching for a new job at the end of the season. Then we are going to head to Omaha, NE to highlight one of the most decorated college basketball players to ever play on the Men’s side. Let’s get into it.

In Your Opinion which teams have been HUGE disappointments this season- Ed Helinski (@MrEd315)

First things first let’s define what I interpret to be a huge disappointment. A disappointment of a season is a season that started with high expectations in the preseason, maybe a team that was ranked in the top 25 when the season began and is now well out of the NCAA tournament. Some may define a disappointment as a team that was a surefire Final Four contender and now is just a bubble team or a team that is going to get in but won’t be good enough to make the Final Four. There are many definitions of that and it depends on what fanbase you ask. Creighton fans will tell you that their team should be listed here because they have not nearly lived up to the expectations placed on them at the start of the season, others will tell you Florida Atlantic because they have not run through the American like so many thought they would and they have some very questionable losses on the resume that show some chinks in their armor.

I am not going to tell either of those teams I am going to stick in a power conference and focus on a team that has experienced tremendous success over the last handful of years but has not been able to put it all together this year. The Arkansas Razorbacks are the team that has been the most disappointing this season. Arkansas headed into the season as one of the favorites in the SEC. They were also a trendy Final Four pick if you are into that sort of thing, but what has happened to the Razorbacks and coach Eric Musselman this season is very strange. 

Arkansas headed into the season with some Senior leaders from their previous teams and a brand new crop of star Freshmen and transfers  It was the same way that coach Musselman has built his teams in the past but for some reason, this team never has come together and they have struggled mightily. They enter play on Monday at 11-12 overall and are one of the worst teams in the SEC. Watching them play tells a lot of the story. It shows that Arkansas and their players have not played much, they don’t have much chemistry and some of the players they were relying on to be good have not been good and they have struggled. 

The depth is bad and the defense is much worse. The Razorbacks don’t communicate much on either end of the floor which has led to a lot of one-on-one play on the offensive end. The Razorbacks don’t look very engaged most nights and quite honestly may have packed it in and are hoping the season ends. Musselman has always been a great coach who has always been able to get the most out of his roster. This has been a confusing year on a lot of fronts and next year is likely going to be a brand new roster full of players that he is going to have to hope have good chemistry or we could be sitting here again saying “What has happened to Arkansas?”  Hopefully, the Razorbacks can get it turned around next year and head back to the NCAA tournament.