Hog Calls

Dykes aiming for season to remember

Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes motions to his players during a game against Savannah State on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes motions to his players during a game against Savannah State on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- "Remember November" isn't among the inspirational creed of sports that peak in March Madness.

Nevertheless, the University of Arkansas just achieved a basketball November to remember by placing both its men's and women's teams in The Associated Press Top 25 polls released Monday. The men's team is 6-0 and ranked 18th, while the women's team is 6-0 and tied for 25th with DePaul in its poll.

Arkansas's men's and women's basketball haven't been simultaneously ranked in the AP polls since December 1998, when Nolan Richardson coached the men's team and Gary Blair coached the women's team. And they weren't simultaneously undefeated like these programs are.

"I think it's unique," said Jimmy Dykes, who is in his first season as the women's coach. "I think there are only three teams in Division I that finished the month of November where the men's and the women's programs were unbeaten: Us, Texas and, I believe, Louisville."

Louisville's men's team is 5-0 and No. 5 and its women's team is 7-0 and No. 7. Texas' men's team is 6-0 and ranked No. 6 and its women's team is 5-0 and No. 4. Both were picked among the elite.

Arkansas was not. Especially its women's program, down to nine players with just one NCAA Tournament appearance (2012 under Tom Collen) since Blair last coached Arkansas in 2003.

The Arkansas women's team received some attention in the AP media poll in November after visiting reigning Conference USA champion Middle Tennessee State, a recent winner at Ole Miss, and neutral site games in Las Vegas with then No. 17 Iowa and Richmond. Arkansas won 58-51 at Middle Tennessee, 77-67 over Iowa and 74-55 over Richmond.

"Iowa and Middle Tennessee, those are really good wins," Dykes said. "When it starts being discussed, those will be resume wins. Middle Tennessee is picked to win their league, and I think they will. Iowa is picked third in the Big Ten. They have been to like six or seven straight NCAA Tournaments and they will be right back there again. Beating Iowa, that's huge."

Dykes waxes proud of his team. He told them so -- ever so briefly -- before Monday's practice as the team prepared for games against South Dakota State (5-2) on Thursday and No. 18 Rutgers (6-0) on Sunday at Walton Arena.

"I congratulated them today on being ranked in the AP Top 25 and told them they had earned every bit of that," Dykes said Monday. "Then I said, 'That's all I want to say about it.' That Iowa win cannot be the highlight of our year. If it is, then we are not going to have a very good year going forward."

Dykes strives for more from less with only nine players after being picked 12th in a 14-team league that has six teams ranked ahead of Arkansas in the Top 25.

"I can't worry about that until January and we open up at Ole Miss," Dykes said. "Really, all we talk about is being tough every day, trying to get better every day.

"That's all we have focused on, and as a result we have done that."

Sports on 12/03/2014

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