Readers crown champion Hogs as champs

It was a great idea when our man Barry Arthur suggested a University of Arkansas basketball bracket that pitted the past 28 NCAA Tournament teams against each other and letting subscribers vote on the winners.

The winner has been crowned at arkansasonline.com/uabbbracket, and the 1994 national championship team prevailed.

The thought was the finals would be those guys and the 1977-78 team that made the Final Four, and that’s how it turned out.

Since there’s a 16-year difference in the teams, there was no way they could have settled it on the court. If they could have, it would have been standing-room-only in Walton Arena.

The winner of our bracket had to knock off Eddie Sutton’s 1976-77 team, Nolan Richardson’s 1991-92 team and Richardson’s 1994-95 team.

The 1977-78 team (both teams had a first-round bye) bested the 1995-96 Richardson team, Sutton’s 1982-83 team and Richardson’s 199091 team.

I didn’t ask about the exact voting numbers.

In fact, my involvement with this project was to find the teams, who they were coached by, overall record, conference championships and the starting players.

Once Arthur had that information, he put the bracket together and the fun began.

I do know within a few hours of the original posting, more than 1,000 views of the bracket had taken place.

The championship matchup was not a fluke, because those two teams were the best.

The Triplets vs. Corliss and Company.

Inside today’s sports section is a look back at the 199394 national championship team.

It was not a surprise season.

The Razorbacks opened the season No. 2 in the nation, moved to No. 1 after three wins and stayed there until a 66-64 loss at Alabama.

The Hogs dropped to No. 4, then clawed their way back to No. 3 before losing 72-71 at Mississippi State.

It would be their final loss of the regular season.

In the second game of the SEC Tournament, they fell to Kentucky 90-78, but they entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest.

They blew through the first weekend in Oklahoma City, beating North Carolina A&T and Georgetown.

By the time they got to Dallas for the Sweet Sixteen, President Bill Clinton decided to attend.

Security caused some long lines, but it wasn’t every day a sitting president attended the NCAA Tournament.

The Razorbacks beat Tulsa and Michigan to earn a Final Four berth in Charlotte, N.C.

In the semifinals, No. 2 Duke — which recently had become a household name — beat No. 3 seed Florida, and Arkansas handled No. 2 seed Arizona 91-82.

Razorback fans had driven, flown and taken a bus to be there.

They grabbed up the tickets of the Florida fans, and it was a Razorback crowd that Monday night.

President Clinton was there and managed to work in a trip to Dallas for the wedding of his brother, Roger.

It was a close game, but Scotty Thurman’s long three over Antonio Lang with 50.7 seconds to play broke a 70-70 tie, and the Hogs went on to win 76-72.

At the final buzzer, Nolan Richardson smiled, momentarily, and then put on his serious face, but the Razorback crowd went crazy.

Corliss Williamson was named Outstanding Player for his 23 points and nine rebounds. Corey Beck had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Thurman finished with 15 points.

Thurman’s shot has withstood the test of time, but what has been forgotten is that the Razorbacks’ pressure defense forced Duke into 23 turnovers. The Hogs had 11 steals.

That’s why they were the national champions, and now the readers’ choice as the No. 1 Arkansas NCAA Tournament team of all time.