NHL Power Rankings: Canucks on top, plus each team’s regrettable move
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10 months agoon
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterJan 26, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
Close- Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
While the Edmonton Oilers approach history with a record-breaking win streak, it’s another Western Canadian team that takes over the top spot of the NHL Power Rankings this week.
Plus, while we identified each team’s best new addition in last week’s Power Rankings, this week it’s the opposite side of the coin: What are the moves (or non-moves) on which each team might like a do-over?
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our master list here.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Jan. 19. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
Previous ranking: 2
Points percentage: 71.88%
Next seven days: vs. CBJ (Jan. 27)
Vancouver has hit all the right notes this season. The Canucks’ only regret might wind up being not extending Elias Pettersson before now (if it was an option). He’s on pace for another 100-plus-point campaign and will be (rightfully) looking for a significant payday when the time comes to negotiate. Vancouver will have to come prepared — and maybe back up the Brinks truck.
Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 71.88%
Next seven days: @ PHI (Jan. 27)
Perhaps this would be considered a “good problem to have.” Boston has red-hot netminder (and pending RFA) Jeremy Swayman up for another contract negotiation this summer — and the way he’s playing, Swayman’s going to demand even more than he did a year ago. The Bruins might regret not getting something longer-term done with Swayman when they had the chance, prior to his levelling up again in 2023-24.
Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 70.65%
Next seven days: vs. TOR (Jan. 27)
The Jets are excellent in so many areas that it’s easy to gloss over the fact their power play is in the bottom 10 of the league. Yikes. The Jets haven’t remedied that situation for over half the season, and it’s the type of problem that comes back to bite a contender in the playoffs. Winnipeg might regret letting its not-so-little problem linger (although perhaps a remedy could be on the way ahead of the trade deadline).
Previous ranking: 4
Points percentage: 67.71%
Next seven days: vs. LA (Jan. 26)
Colorado took a risk replacing injured goaltender Pavel Francouz with waiver-wire pickup Ivan Prosvetov last October — and it hasn’t paid off. Prosvetov has provided little help to starter Alexandar Georgiev in a backup role, and as Colorado leans heavily on Georgiev now, the more likely he’ll be burned out by spring. The Avalanche might regret not bolstering their goalie tandem sooner.
Previous ranking: 7
Points percentage: 66.67%
Next seven days: vs. WSH (Jan. 27)
Dallas didn’t upgrade its backup goalie position for the season, sticking with Scott Wedgewood behind the usually fantastic Jake Oettinger. Well. Oettinger has struggled between injury stints, and Wedgewood has been taxed in the meantime. The Stars are a good team despite their below-average goaltending — but will GM Jim Nill regret not adding a more reliable No. 2 option?
Previous ranking: 5
Points percentage: 65.96%
Next seven days: @ PIT (Jan. 26), @ NYI (Jan. 27)
The front office will regret not re-signing Sam Reinhart last summer. The pending UFA is one the league’s hottest scorers and will be in high demand on the open market (if he makes it there). The Panthers are obviously enjoying Reinhart while they can — but he’s going to need a raise this offseason.
Previous ranking: 10
Points percentage: 64.77%
Next seven days: vs. NSH (Jan. 27)
This one is easy: Edmonton should have keyed on new head coach Kris Knoblauch way sooner. Why? Because replacing Jay Woodcroft with Knoblauch in November (when the Oilers were 3-9-1) is the best thing to happen for Edmonton this season, and the team has the lengthy win streak to prove it.
Previous ranking: 6
Points percentage: 64.89%
Next seven days: vs. VGK (Jan. 26), @ OTT (Jan. 27)
The addition of Blake Wheeler on a one-year deal followed Winnipeg buying out his contract last summer is a move New York might regret. Even that minor $800,000 investment in the veteran hasn’t gone the Rangers’ way. Wheeler has been underwhelming with just 17 points in 46 games. Have to wonder now if New York wouldn’t have put its money behind a different depth addition.
Previous ranking: 9
Points percentage: 64.58%
Next seven days: @ NYR (Jan. 26), @ DET (Jan. 27)
Vegas failed to add or change much in the offseason following its Stanley Cup victory. Now, standing pat looks like a questionable call. The Golden Knights have fizzled following a hot start, with predictable problems piling up for a team susceptible to fatigue. This is when a lack of fresh legs can become one major regret.
Previous ranking: 11
Points percentage: 60.87%
Next seven days: @ WPG (Jan. 27)
Toronto signed Ryan Reaves to a three-year, $4.050 million contract in the offseason that has translated into one goal in 21 games and Reaves being moved to IR — despite the 36-year-old recently stating he has been healthy for weeks. Huh? Talk about an all-around bad situation the Leafs have to regret.
Previous ranking: 8
Points percentage: 62.77%
Next seven days: vs. ARI (Jan. 27)
The re-signing of Tony DeAngelo on a one-year, $1.675 million contract over the summer is the easy choice here, as the defenseman has spent most of this season as a healthy scratch. Granted, the Hurricanes have solid defensive depth to work with, but the club seemingly miscalculated what DeAngelo’s fit would be with its group.
Previous ranking: 13
Points percentage: 58.89%
Next seven days: @ COL (Jan. 26), @ STL (Jan. 28), @ NSH (Jan. 31)
The Kings swung for the fences acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois from Winnipeg in trade last summer — and then inked him to a monster new contract. It hasn’t exactly been a great fit. Dubois is on pace for a career low in points and was recently called out by head coach Todd McLellan for needing to be more of a “difference-maker.” Are the Kings destined for buyer’s (or, trader’s) remorse?
Previous ranking: 12
Points percentage: 57.14%
Next seven days: vs. BOS (Jan. 27)
Will the Flyers regret not going all-in on chasing the playoffs this season? The team didn’t start off expecting to be in the postseason mix, and if it sticks with the plan of trading players away ahead of the deadline, Philadelphia could quickly fall out of contention. And where’s the enjoyment in that — compared to making a surprising run to a playoff berth?
Previous ranking: 19
Points percentage: 58.16%
Next seven days: vs. NJ (Jan. 27)
Tampa Bay inked Tanner Jeannot to a two-year, $5.33 million contract in July, hoping to revive a player who broke out with 24 goals in the 2021-22 season. That hasn’t happened. Jeannot had just 12 points in 41 games this season before the Lightning moved him to IR. For a cap-strapped club like Tampa Bay, that’s a disappointing return on investment.
Previous ranking: 14
Points percentage: 57.29%
Next seven days: vs. VGK (Jan. 27), vs. OTT (Jan. 31)
Detroit must regret not tapping into whatever well Alex Lyon‘s been drinking from lately because the Red Wings have been red-hot in January and it’s Lyon who’s leading that charge. Lyon was a third-string option until recently taking the No. 1 reins, and the results (minus one poor outing against Dallas this week) have put the Red Wings back on a playoff track.
Previous ranking: 16
Points percentage: 55.43%
Next seven days: @ TB (Jan. 27)
To put it charitably, New Jersey has had its issues with goaltending this season — and the Devils could regret not addressing that problem. Vitek Vanecek has taken a serious step back since last season’s breakout, and Akira Schmid hasn’t provided much help either. If New Jersey expects to get into the playoffs and make some noise, a new option will have to come via trade; other teams know this and won’t make that move a cheap one for the Devils.
Previous ranking: 18
Points percentage: 55.21%
Next seven days: @ EDM (Jan. 27), @ OTT (Jan. 29)
Sending Ryan Johansen to Colorado last summer (while retaining half his salary) looked like a necessary swap for a rebuilding team. And yet, the offensively challenged Predators could really use Johansen about now as they continue a somewhat surprising push for the playoffs. The Avalanche have Johansen in a third-line role, but he would be contributing higher up in Nashville. Over the short term at least, moving on from Johansen kind of stings.
Previous ranking: 15
Points percentage: 54.55%
Next seven days: vs. FLA (Jan. 26), vs. MTL (Jan. 27)
Could it be the Erik Karlsson trade? Pittsburgh took on the defenseman and his $10 million-per-year contract for four more seasons via last summer’s blockbuster. Given Karlsson’s average production and the Penguins’ seventh-place position in the Metropolitan Division at present, it’s hard not to wonder if GM Kyle Dubas regrets (for now, at least) going all-in on that big-time move.
Previous ranking: 21
Points percentage: 53.13%
Next seven days: vs. FLA (Jan. 27)
The Isles finally went for a coaching change last week when GM Lou Lamoriello tapped Patrick Roy to replace Lane Lambert. Could they regret not making a change before the season? New York failed to maintain any consistency through the first half, and now it’s scrambling to stay in the playoff race.
Previous ranking: 24
Points percentage: 54.35%
Next seven days: @ SEA (Jan. 26), vs. LA (Jan. 28), vs. CBJ (Jan. 30)
Ultimately, St. Louis replaced Craig Berube with Drew Bannister behind the bench after a dismal start to the season. But the Blues waited until December to make the switch, and it cost them valuable time to keep pace in the Central Division. They’ve been well over .500 under Bannister’s watch; will St. Louis look back and wonder why a clearly needed change took so long?
Previous ranking: 23
Points percentage: 52.13%
Next seven days: @ CAR (Jan. 27)
Arizona might have extended Sean Durzi sooner if it had known what a terrific season the pending RFA would put together. As it is, Durzi will be looking for a handsome raise (with long-term implications) when the time comes. Durzi has been an exemplary offensive defenseman and an integral piece of the Coyotes’ above-average power play. No doubt Durzi will want to have his (pay) day now.
Previous ranking: 17
Points percentage: 54.35%
Next seven days: @ DAL (Jan. 27)
Washington did not orchestrate a trade for Evgeny Kuznetsov in the offseason, and he has continued to be something of a dead weight in their struggling offense. The Capitals’ second-highest-paid forward has just six goals in 40 games for a team frequently being outshot and outscored at alarming rates. Washington must regret not being able to find Kuznetsov a new home — and perhaps some higher-scoring options for itself.
Previous ranking: 20
Points percentage: 52.13%
Next seven days: vs. STL (Jan. 26), vs. CBJ (Jan. 28), @ SJ (Jan. 30)
Failing to extend a qualifying offer to Morgan Geekie last summer seems like a big mistake now. Geekie was swiftly scooped up by the Bruins, and he’s having a fantastic season that’s on track to be a career high in every respect. Meanwhile, the Kraken have struggled for scoring. Having Geekie around would have helped.
Previous ranking: 22
Points percentage: 48.96%
Next seven days: vs. CHI (Jan. 27)
Calgary has appeared to hem and haw about what to do with pending UFA Elias Lindholm. That’s a regretful tactic. The longer Calgary waits to either sign Lindholm or trade him to a contender, the less control the team may have in ensuring either scenario works out in its favor.
Previous ranking: 27
Points percentage: 48.96%
Next seven days: vs. ANA (Jan. 27)
Minnesota didn’t — and frankly, due to a lack of cap space, couldn’t — add much to the roster over the summer, and that came back to haunt it in a brutal first half of the season. The Wild were plagued by injuries and had a glaring lack of depth to fill in the gaps. GM Bill Guerin said recently he still believes in his team — but Guerin might also regret not doing more to bolster the Wild earlier.
Previous ranking: 26
Points percentage: 47.92%
Next seven days: @ SJ (Jan. 27)
After an encouraging closing stretch to last season, the Sabres didn’t shy away from establishing (publicly) a playoffs-or-bust mentality for 2023-24. It hasn’t served them well. The Sabres were rightfully confident in themselves heading into the season, but that additional pressure has seemingly come back to bite them.
Previous ranking: 25
Points percentage: 48.96%
Next seven days: @ PIT (Jan. 27)
Montreal is not exactly in “win now” mode, but will the Canadiens ultimately regret the slow play of this rebuild? Their first-period struggles, listless losses, injury pile-ups and poor specialty teams erode confidence in not just players, but coaches too. Perhaps Montreal could have done more in the offseason to help itself stay closer to the average during this season.
Previous ranking: 29
Points percentage: 43.18%
Next seven days: vs. NYR (Jan. 27), vs. NSH (Jan. 29), @ DET (Jan. 31)
The Senators thought they’d solved the goalie position by signing Joonas Korpisalo to a five-year, $20 million contract last summer. Ottawa can’t be pleased with how he has performed since. The goalie intended to be a verifiable No. 1 has a sub-.900 SV% and nearly 3.50 GAA to show for his season thus far. That long-term investment is something the Senators could come to regret.
Previous ranking: 28
Points percentage: 41.49%
Next seven days: @ VAN (Jan. 27), @ SEA (Jan. 28), @ STL (Jan. 30)
Columbus has dealt with enough distractions, and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins needed not to be another one. The Blue Jackets’ purported starter put up career-worst marks last season, and yet Columbus hung on to him hoping this season would be different. It’s not. Between his trade request and the Blue Jackets not getting what they need from him, it’s the kind of drama the club was hoping to avoid.
Previous ranking: 30
Points percentage: 35.42%
Next seven days: @ MIN (Jan. 27), vs. SJ (Jan. 31)
Anaheim traded Jamie Drysdale to Philadelphia for Cutter Gauthier, and already it feels like the Ducks could regret that in the short term at least. They were struggling without Drysdale as it was when he was injured, and now he’s gone altogether. Gauthier will step in at some point, but right now the Ducks don’t seem to have done themselves a favor getting rid of Drysdale.
Previous ranking: 31
Points percentage: 30.61%
Next seven days: @ CGY (Jan. 27)
Chicago is getting something special from Jason Dickinson right now. And you wonder if coach Luke Richardson doesn’t regret not finding that spark for his offense sooner. Dickinson is playing some of his best hockey in years as a pillar of the Blackhawks’ consistent second line (which, at present, is the only one scoring), and it’s Dickinson who’s offering Chicago some much-needed stability.
Previous ranking: 32
Points percentage: 31.25%
Next seven days: vs. BUF (Jan. 27), vs. SEA (Jan. 30), @ ANA (Jan. 31)
It’s no surprise given their spot in the standings, but the Sharks have been brutal in multiple categories, including goaltending. That’s especially disheartening considering the Sharks gave Mackenzie Blackwood a two-year, $4.7 million deal in the offseason — and he has been worse all around than backup Kaapo Kahkonen. If San Jose had high hopes for Blackwood’s backstopping, he has yet to reach those heights.
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Low and inside: O’s will again alter LF dimensions
Published
40 mins agoon
November 15, 2024By
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Associated Press
Nov 15, 2024, 06:30 PM ET
BALTIMORE — The Orioles are ready to adjust their wall in left field again.
The team moved the wall at Camden Yards back and made it significantly taller before the 2022 season. General manager Mike Elias said Friday the team “overcorrected” and will try to find a “happier medium” before the 2025 season.
The team sent out a rendering of changes showing the wall moved farther in — particularly in left-center field near the bullpens — and reduced in height.
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Dodgers’ Graterol (shoulder) to sit first half of ’25
Published
47 mins agoon
November 15, 2024By
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Associated Press
Nov 15, 2024, 05:19 PM ET
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers right-hander Brusdar Graterol will miss the first half of next season after having surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder.
The surgery was performed Thursday by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Dodgers announced Friday.
Graterol is expected to return in the second half of the 2025 season.
Graterol pitched in seven games during the regular season and three games in the World Series against the New York Yankees, which the Dodgers won in five games. He allowed three hits over 2⅓ scoreless innings in those World Series appearances.
The 26-year-old was slowed this season by shoulder inflammation and a hamstring injury.
Graterol, a hard-throwing Venezuelan, spent his first season in the majors with Minnesota in 2019, and the Twins traded him to the Dodgers before the 2020 season. For his career, he has a 2.78 ERA and 11 saves in 188 games.
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‘They absolutely hate our guts’: The weird, wonderful games that define Texas-Arkansas
Published
1 hour agoon
November 15, 2024By
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Bill Connelly, ESPN Staff WriterNov 15, 2024, 06:46 AM ET
Close- Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com.
At SEC media days in July, Steve Sarkisian inadvertently described a good portion of college football in a single line. “I feel like when you go to Arkansas,” the Texas Longhorns coach said, “I almost at times feel like they hate Texas more than they like themselves. That’s a real rivalry.”
Later that week, Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman confirmed Sarkisian’s take. “We hadn’t played Texas for years,” he said, “and when we played them a couple of years back, it was the most excited our fan base has been in a while. So I would say he’s probably right.”
Houston Nutt can testify. Nutt grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He idolized legendary Arkansas coach Frank Broyles and watched him battle Darrell Royal and the Longhorns before playing for the Razorbacks himself.
“When Texas came to play Arkansas, it was this huge, huge thing,” he told ESPN in 2019. “I remember being taught at the age of 6 outside War Memorial Stadium [in Little Rock] how to do the Hook ‘Em Horns Down sign.”
Nutt beat the Horns as the Hogs’ coach, a 27-6 win in the 2000 Cotton Bowl, Arkansas’ first bowl win since 1985. He turned around, and threw the Horns Down to the Arkansas fans.
“It was a sea of red, and they were mostly doing the Hook ‘Em Horns Down,” Nutt said. “What did I do? I can’t help it. I’m right there with ’em.”
Conference realignment has broken countless rivalries through the years. There are no Oklahoma-Oklahoma State games on the schedule; Missouri and Kansas haven’t played since 2011; Cal has traded playing UCLA for playing NC State; Oregon-Oregon State and Washington-Washington State have been moved from the traditional bottom of the schedule to the top; Pitt and West Virginia play only sporadically, as do Oklahoma and Nebraska. But in the “thank God for small favors” department, this latest round of realignment at least reignited a few rivalries to replace the further ones we lost. Longtime Big 8 and Big 12 rivals Oklahoma and Missouri played this past Saturday for the first time in 13 years (and celebrated the occasion with a particularly wacky finish), and on Nov. 30 not only will we get our first Texas vs. Texas A&M game since 2011 but it also might have enormous College Football Playoff stakes.
While we wait for Aggies-Horns, however, we get a rivalry game that, for quite a while, outshined Texas-A&M and defined Southwest Conference football. On Saturday, Texas and Arkansas will play for just the fourth time in 20 years and will play as conference rivals for the first time in 33. Most rivalries fit into certain parameters — the dueling heavyweights that split the wins over time, the heavyweight against the aspirant that measures itself by how well it’s faring against the big dog, etc. — but over the course of a few decades, Arkansas-Texas fit into multiple categories. Arkansas was the aggrieved and aspirant underdog for much of the series, but for much of the 1960s, when Royal and Broyles were at the top of their respective games, this was the biggest game in college football. Whichever flavor it takes on at a given time, this game remains spicy.
Texas is 8-1 and listed as a favorite by more than two touchdowns Saturday, while Arkansas is 5-4, having handed Tennessee its only loss of the season but suffered two blowout losses in its past four games. The Razorbacks are volatile underdogs; the Longhorns are SEC title favorites; and, for at least a little while Saturday, Razorback Stadium will be an absolute cauldron. To prepare ourselves, let’s look back at 10 of the most noteworthy games in this revived rivalry’s history.
No. 3 Texas 20, No. 14 Arkansas 0 (1946)
“Steers Trounce Tough Porkers For 5th Victory” was the headline in the Austin American. At 3-0-1, Arkansas was off to its best start in 13 years, and for the first time these teams met as mutually ranked foes. But Texas, also unbeaten and the winner of three of the past four Southwest Conference (SWC) crowns, handled both the moment and the muggy conditions better. Future pro and college football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne threw a pair of touchdown passes — one to Hub Bechtol for 50 yards, one to Jim Canady for 47 — and the Longhorns had scored all their points by halftime. This was a pretty common result: Aside from a mid-1930s run in which Texas lost its way as a program and Arkansas won five of six games between them, UT dominated the early stages of this rivalry, winning 29 of the first 35 battles. It’s been a lot closer since then.
This was the high-water mark for the “Steers,” by the way, as they would fall via road upset to both Rice and TCU, handing Arkansas only its second SWC title. The Razorbacks would head to Dallas, where they endured a 0-0 tie with LSU in the Cotton Bowl.
No. 3 Texas 13, No. 12 Arkansas 12 (1959)
After falling apart under Edwin Price in the mid-1950s, Texas righted the ship by hiring Royal, a former Oklahoma Sooner, to lead the program in 1957. In 1959 the Longhorns embarked on a run of nine top-10 finishes and two national titles in 14 years. Royal won his first two games against Arkansas by a combined 41-6, but second-year head coach Broyles also had things up and running by 1959. The Razorbacks would enjoy eight top-10 finishes in 11 years from 1959 to 1969; in this tight loss, they served notice as to what was coming.
As with much of 1950s college football, this game was decided by disasters. Both teams lost four fumbles; Arkansas recovered a loose ball to set up its first touchdown, but with Texas trailing 12-7 in the third quarter, another future Hall of Famer, Lance Alworth, muffed a punt, which set up a winning touchdown pass from Bart Shirley to Jack Collins. Between 1959 and 1969, eight of 11 Steers-Porkers games would be decided by five or fewer points.
No. 8 Arkansas 14, No. 1 Texas 13 (1964)
Texas won its first national title under Royal in 1963; the Longhorns shined in big games that season, beating No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Navy by a combined 56-13, but they managed only a 17-13 win over Arkansas in Fayetteville. They advanced their winning streak to 15 games early in 1964, but Broyles was building a title-worthy squad of his own by then.
For the third time in four years, this was a matchup of top-10 teams. The most famous members of the 1964 Razorbacks were future Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and future college and NFL title winner Jimmy Johnson, but future Arkansas coach Ken Hatfield made the difference in this one. His 81-yard punt return gave Arkansas a 7-0 halftime lead, and after Texas tied the score in the fourth quarter, Fred Marshall found Bobby Crockett for a 34-yard touchdown to put Arkansas ahead once more. With about a minute left, Ernie Koy scored on a 1-yard plunge; Royal, entirely uninterested in a tie, elected to go for two points and the win, but a pass attempt came up short. Texas’ winning streak was over, and Arkansas would go on to finish 11-0 and score a share of its first national title.
No. 3 Arkansas 27, No. 1 Texas 24 (1965)
By October 1965, Arkansas had extended its winning streak to 16 games, winning its first four games of 1965 by a combined 114-33. But Texas had leapfrogged the Razorbacks to get back to No. 1, thanks in part to a 19-0 win over Oklahoma. That put the chip firmly back on Arkansas’ shoulder.
With the extra dose of motivation — plus, perhaps, some divine intervention: Fayetteville’s First Baptist Church famously posted, “Football is only a game, eternal things are spiritual. Nevertheless, beat Texas” that week — Arkansas raced to an early lead thanks to a pair of Phil Harris fumbles. Martine Bercher recovered the first one in the end zone, then Tommy Trantham took another one 77 yards for a score.
Arkansas went up 20-0 after a Jon Brittenum-to-Bobby Crockett touchdown, but Texas charged back. It was 20-11 by halftime, and David Conway’s 34-yard field goal made it 24-20 Longhorns with just five minutes left. Brittenum scored from a yard out with 1:32 remaining, though, and Arkansas had its second of three straight wins in the series.
The Hogs would run their overall winning streak to 22 before falling to LSU 14-7 in the Cotton Bowl.
No. 1 Texas 15, No. 2 Arkansas 14 (1969)
Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? Texas usually played Oklahoma and Arkansas back-to-back in early October, but Roone Arledge, the innovative head of ABC Sports, had an idea in the offseason. Texas had finished 1968 as the hottest team in the country, winning its last nine games and averaging 37 points per game with offensive coordinator Emory Bellard’s innovative wishbone scheme. Arkansas, meanwhile, finished 10-1 with only a 39-29 loss at Texas. The Longhorns and Razorbacks finished third and sixth, respectively, in the AP poll and headed into 1969, college football’s centennial season, as obvious national title contenders.
According to Terry Frei’s “Horns, Hogs, and Nixon’s Coming,” ABC publicist (and future ESPN analyst) Beano Cook pored over the schedules and determined that Arkansas, Texas and Penn State all had good chances of going unbeaten. “My recommendation involved Penn State and Arkansas finishing the regular season with perfect records and then playing for the national title,” Cook told Frei. “I said we should move Texas-Arkansas to December 6, because I thought Texas might be undefeated then, too.” Arledge told the coaches that former Oklahoma coach and politician Bud Wilkinson could make sure that new President Richard Nixon was likely to attend the game as well. It was going to be a spectacle unlike anything college football had seen.
Sure enough, the Longhorns and Razorbacks both reached December unbeaten (as did Penn State), and Nixon was there in the stands for a game that somehow lived up to all expectations.
With Texas’ offense discombobulated early — the Horns turned the ball over on their first two drives — Arkansas scored on a short Bill Burnett run and, early in the third quarter, a 29-yard catch by star receiver Chuck Dicus. Texas quarterback James Street scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, then scored on a 2-point conversion as well. (Royal decided before the game that he once again wanted to avoid a tie at all costs.)
With the score 14-8, Arkansas drove the length of the field and was on the verge of putting the game away until Danny Lester picked off a Bill Montgomery pass in the end zone. Then came “Right 53 Veer Pass”: On a fourth-and-3 near midfield, Street threw a bomb to Randy Peschel for 44 yards.
#TBT – 1969: Texas defeats Arkansas 15-14.#ThisIsTexas #HookEm pic.twitter.com/xoqn5cbhFm
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) October 17, 2019
Two plays later, Texas went ahead with a short Jim Bertelsen touchdown. Arkansas drove near field goal range in the final seconds, but Tom Campbell picked off Montgomery to ice the game, and Nixon declared Texas the national champion in the locker room after the game. (This rather annoyed Penn State’s Joe Paterno, whose team was also unbeaten.)
College football’s explosion as a television product can be ascribed to countless things, but ABC’s innovative approach to broadcasting, followed by a couple of all-time classics — this and 1971 Oklahoma-Nebraska, to name two — in short succession certainly didn’t hurt.
No. 1 Texas 42, No. 4 Arkansas 7 (1970)
The sequel often fails to live up to the billing. Almost exactly a year after the 1969 classic, Texas was riding a 29-game winning streak, while 9-1 Arkansas was ranked fourth in the AP poll and looking for revenge on national television. It didn’t quite work out.
Texas rushed for 464 yards — Bertelsen and Steve Worster combined for 315 on their own, with five of the Longhorns’ six touchdowns — and picked off Montgomery three times. After a goal-line stand by the Longhorns’ defense prevented Arkansas from tying the score early on, the floodgates opened.
The tide had again turned in the rivalry. Arkansas would finally get some measure of revenge the next year with a win in Little Rock, but after winning four of seven over the Horns between 1960-66, the Hogs won only once between 1966-79.
No. 8 Texas 28, No. 3 Arkansas 21 (1978)
A generation ended when both Royal and Broyles retired after matching 5-5-1 seasons in 1976. They both ended up hiring their younger replacements — 38-year old Fred Akers at UT, 40-year old Lou Holtz at Arkansas — as their schools’ respective athletic directors.
Both led immediate rebounds. Holtz won 30 games, Akers won 29, and both schools finished in the AP top 12 each year from 1977 to 1979. In 1978, Akers’ Longhorns played a unique role, too: spoiler. They welcomed unbeaten Arkansas to Austin and ended the Hogs’ 11-game winning streak. Two Randy McEachern touchdown passes in the final minute of the first half turned a tie into a 20-7 Texas lead, and when Arkansas charged back to take the lead, Johnny “Lam” Jones caught McEachern’s third TD pass, and Johnnie Johnson picked off one pass and broke up another on a fourth down to seal the win. This was the first of four straight upsets in the series, with the lower-ranked team winning every year from 1978 to 1981. My favorite rivalries are the ones that make no sense.
Arkansas 42, No. 1 Texas 11 (1981)
And now for maybe the most shocking result in the history of the rivalry. Akers’ Longhorns entered the 1981 game No. 1 in the country, having just blown out Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma 34-14 to move to 4-0. Arkansas, meanwhile, had fallen out of the AP rankings two weeks earlier after a road loss to an awful TCU team that would finish 2-7-2. Surely a blowout was in store, right?
This was indeed a blowout, but not the one anyone expected. Two fumbles and a safety from an airmailed punt snap gave Arkansas a quick 15-0 lead, and the Longhorns never got closer. The Hogs led 25-3 at halftime and 39-3 after three quarters; Texas actually outgained the home team 421-323, but seven turnovers sabotaged all efforts. A turnaround in the series? Not so much. The last two Akers-Holtz battles ended up a combined 64-10 in favor of the team in burnt orange. But this one was an awfully big thumb in the eye, and it would prevent the Horns from winning a national title — they ended up second in the polls behind Clemson.
Arkansas 14, Texas 13 (1991)
“Ain’t no rematch. Best thing of all, ain’t gonna be no rematch.” That’s Arkansas head coach Jack Crowe, celebrating a Hogs win in the final SWC matchup between the two rivals. He had just weathered one of the silliest games in the series to secure permanent (well, permanent-ish) bragging rights. Arkansas led 14-0 at halftime after touchdowns from Ron Dickerson Jr. and Kerwin Price, but a 14-yard Phil Brown touchdown made it 14-7 heading into the fourth quarter, and a 55-yard burst from Brown tied the score. Or at least, it should have: The Longhorns missed the PAT, then missed a 39-yard field goal attempt with 3:45 left.
The teams weren’t particularly memorable, even if the game was. Crowe’s Razorbacks went 6-6 in their last season in the SWC, while David McWilliams’ fifth and final Texas team went 5-6. The teams had weathered ups and downs, splitting the previous six meetings and producing zero top-10 finishes from 1984 to 1991 as the SWC wobbled through controversies and discontent. In 1990, the SEC announced it was adding Arkansas as part of an expansion to 10 teams; the plan had originally included adding not only the Hogs but also Texas and Texas A&M, but the state legislature intervened, and only Arkansas was on its way out the door. So was Crowe: Broyles fired him (and then tried to get away with announcing he’d resigned) after Arkansas began its SEC tenure with a 10-3 loss to The Citadel.
No. 7 Texas 22, Arkansas 20 (2004)
Since 1991, this has basically been a series of pent-up aggression: Whichever rival takes an early lead when they meet just keeps wailing away for a while. Arkansas won two bowl meetings (the 2000 Cotton Bowl and the 2014 Texas Bowl) by a combined 58-13, Texas won a home game in Austin 52-10 in 2008, and Arkansas won a home game in Fayetteville, Steve Sarkisian’s second game in charge at Texas, by a score of 40-21 in 2021.
A 2003-04 home-and-home series produced some drama, though. Arkansas upset No. 6 Texas by a 38-28 margin in 2003, using an early 21-0 run to build some space, getting 217 combined rushing yards from Cedric Cobbs and quarterback Matt Jones and scoring every time it needed to down the stretch.
But with a young quarterback by the name of Vince Young taking over for UT in 2004, the Longhorns got some revenge. Texas built a quick 9-0 advantage with a safety from a bombed punt snap and a 49-yard TD from Young to David Thomas. And from there, it was the Cedric Benson show: The star running back produced 201 yards from scrimmage and scored via both ground and air. Texas held a 22-17 lead into the fourth quarter, and after forcing an Arkansas field goal with 9:58 left, the Longhorns’ defense forced three consecutive turnovers to ice the win. Arkansas would stumble to a disappointing 5-6 record, while Mack Brown’s Longhorns would finish 11-1 before winning the national title a year later.
The most recent Hogs-Horns game might turn out to have been pretty useful. “I don’t know what Darrell Royal did to Arkansas back in the day,” Sarkisian joked with reporters this week, “but they absolutely hate our guts. And I think we learned that the first time around when we went there.”
Texas knows what it’s walking into, at least. They know to expect a Horns Down or two, though we’ll have to wait and see if Sam Pittman gets in on the act.
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