Hog Hoops start 18-0? That’s what the analytics say

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — An 18-0 start to the season? That would be something Razorback fans can only dream of. Something the basketball program hasn’t been close to doing since the early 1990’s. Analytics guru, Erik Haslam and his group of computers have figured out the numbers, crunched them together to say Arkansas might be the 12th best team in the country.

Haslametrics released its baseline ratings for the upcoming basketball season. Arkansas comes it at 12th nationally, good enough for 3rd in the SEC.

The Razorbacks’ projected record according to @haslametrics is 24-5 (13-5) (does not include Battle 4 Atlantis games past the… pic.twitter.com/7Ih1w95MJ3

— JC Hoops (@JacksonCollier) October 2, 2023

Fresh off another season that saw the Hogs advance to the Sweet 16, Eric Musselman has once again put together a solid squad. With five returnees that were solid contributors last season, five new guards and three new post players are ready to make another deep tournament run in March.

For them to do so, all players will need to be as good as advertised such as ‘the sniper’ Jeremiah Davenport. He’s been touted by Cincinnati insiders as a streaky shooter capable of filling up the scoresheet.

Preliminary preseason baseline ratings and rankings for the 2023-24 college basketball season are now available at https://t.co/4XOkZfzYg4. (1/6) pic.twitter.com/oInMBasiuv

— Erik Haslam (@haslametrics) October 2, 2023

A couple of the main takeaways from Haslam’s offensive analytics is the offensive efficiency ratings, free throw shooting and three point percentage. Davenport is accustomed already to taking big time shots, sometimes long ones at that. He has solid range from three up to 38 feet which he hit from against South Florida last season.

Arkansas’ free throw shooting was horrid at times last season with a few games that hovered around the 60% mark. That is expected to change, according to Haslam’s analytics, too. His system has the Razorbacks hitting at a 74% rate which is up nearly 5 points from last season.

Finally, offensive efficiency is factored by taking the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions. In a game; “offensive efficiency” of a team is equal to defensive efficiency of the opponent team. While there are quite a few teams hovering around the 113-114 mark, just three programs exceed the 115 point mark and they are Houston, Purdue and defending national champions UConn.

The Razorbacks open up Barnhill Arena once again for the Red-White Showcase starting at 6:30 PM. It is free of charge to the public.