Wednesday Hodge Podge

* As you’ve probably seen, the Hogs have been picked to finish last in the SEC West by just about every prognosticator out there. Now, the no respect train continues to roll as Sports Illustrated has ranked Arkansas 69th out of the 119 D-I teams. For those of you scoring at home, that’s immediately behind noted football powers like Bowling Green, Ball State and, um, Louisville.

* After slandering Dwight Stewart earlier in the week, those sky blue snobs over at Tar Heel Fan have taken aim at another Razorback icon. Reporting on their 1993 team, they write: “…the Heels faced Arkansas and the ever talkative Nolan Richardson. The Razorbacks’ coach took the opportunity to make all sorts of statements in the media which UNC kindly stuffed back in his face by beating Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen.” If I may practice a bit of armchair psychology, I’d guess that they know deep down that the Hog teams of that era were better than their UNC counterparts, and are aghast at the thought of finishing behind those non-pedigreed ruffians.

* Remember the names Michael Dyers and Claude Johnson. This article says they’re players Petrino has to sign in 2010. Yes, 2010. And yes, he might be at his second post-Razorback job by that point.

* It’s nice to see the national media catching on to what we Arkies have known all along: D-Mac can play some football. And he’s not quite the thug he was made out to be, either.

* In addition to being a fairly decent football player, D-Mac isn’t too shabby as a pitchman, either. Check this out (link courtesy of Arkansas Sports 360):