Our ArkansasSports360.com picks blog continues. We'll select five college football games a week (not at random, but it might seem like it) for members of the ArkansasSports360.com staff and our media/Arkansas Business Publishing Group partners to pick.

Records will be updated each week. The winner will get a free ArkansasSports360.com daily e-newsletter (which you can sign up for ... here).

And as always, feel free to interact. Make your picks, comment on ours.

The floor is yours...

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Iowa State at Missouri
No. 10 LSU at Mississippi
Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Kentucky at Georgia
Mississippi State at Arkansas

Jim Harris, 42-8
Editor, ArkansasSports360.com
Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Everything points to Rebs losing, from seldom beating LSU at home to Nutt having them up two weeks in a row. But I see Capital One in Rebs' future."

Steve Sullivan 41-9
Sports Director, KATV
Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Petrino Power!!!"

Brent Birch, 40-10
Director, FLEX360
Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Iowa State can't even get original uniforms, how they going to win at
Mizzou???"

Brady Holzhauer, 39-11
Recruiting Writer, ArkansasSports360.com
Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Team preparing for game like its the 'super bowl'.  Luckily, a Petrino-coached Arkansas team doesn't play like the Patriots in crunch time."

Chip Taulbee, 39-11
Associate Publisher, ABPG
Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Missouri and Arkansas continue on parallel paths to win number seven. Perhaps an Independence Bowl meeting is in their futures."

Justin Acri, 38-12
Program Director/Host The Zone, 1037.7 FM The Buzz
Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas

Mark Carter, 38-12
Editor, Innovate Arkansas
Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Mallet has field day, Hogs hold Dixon in check."

Chris Bahn, 37-13
NW Editor, ArkansasSports360.com
Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Arkansas extends streak to four."

Jennifer Pyron, 37-13
Assoc. Publisher/Editor, Little Rock Family
Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"No comment."

Tre Baker, 34-16
Assistant Internet Editor, ABPG
Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas
"Tigers will handle Rebs like sheets laid out to dry."

Arkansas plays its 200^th game at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Since they started playing there in 1948 the Razorbacks are 143-53-3, but only 1-2 in games played on Nov 21.

Why am I throwing all this at you? More importantly, where did I come up with this trivia?

None of this is committed to memory, I promise. I'm not some kind of Hog history genius (like ArkansasSports360.com editor Jim Harris). Thanks to the Razorback Research Wizard, a new tool launched by the Hog Database blog, I sort of feel like one.

It is truly remarkable.

Sure, you could spend hours thumbing through an Arkansas football media guide, but this is easier. And it's quicker, exactly what Hog Database creator Jacob London was hoping for when he and his wife, Kimberly, began working on this project in 2005.

Just plug in the criteria for your search  on Hog Database (games at War Memorial on Nov. 21, for example) and in less than a second, the information is there. Hog Database bills itself as the "past present and future of Arkansas Razorback Football."

It ought to be the future of any Hog History-related bar bet you're looking to settle.

Hog Database includes pages devoted to yearly history, former coaches and opponents. It's photo archive features nearly 5,000 items and was the genesis of the site.

While collecting photos and scans London noticed media guides and yearbooks often had conflicting information. So he and his wife set about sorting through historical records in September 2005 and now Hog Database has a comprehensive history of Arkansas football.

There's all kinds of stuff on here. Total, there are 1,149 games to choose from and 26 possible search fields. Criteria for search include TV station, state, minimum UA points scored, opposing coach, etc.

Thanks to the Razorback Research Wizard, I know that Arkansas is 0-1 in the state of New York (27-7 loss to Fordham on Nov. 21, 1940) and 1-0 in the state of Hawaii (38-20 victory against Hawaii on Dec. 5, 1987).

Hog Database began as "Razorback Legacy" and was initially conceived as an archive of historical Razorback photos. So far there are close to 5,000 photos archived all the way back to the 1890s.

London, a 28-year-old Prairie Grove resident, has a day job, but he's turned being a Razorback fan into a second career. As much as London enjoyed being in Austin, Texas to watch Arkansas win at Texas in 2003, seeing this project come to fruition might be an even better feeling.

"My goal turned to creating an online version of the Arkansas Media guide, but unaffiliated with the University, with easier to find and more accurate information," London said. "I've still got a long way to go."

Looks like London and the Hog Database are off to a great start.

Though the Hogs became officially bowl-eligible last week with the win against Troy, Arkansas still has plenty to play for this week against Mississippi State – the difference between going to Shreveport or heading back to Arlington to play in the Cotton Bowl.

ArkansasSports360.com Editor Jim Harris looks at what the Razorbacks can do to beat the Bulldogs at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday as well as weighing the chances of Arkansas Tech making it past North Alabama in the Division II Football Play-offs.

Ken Duke is battling 77 golfers in Pine Mountain, Ga., this week for a chance to advance to the final stage of the PGA Tour's qualifying school. On Wednesday, Duke shot 8-under-par 64 to lead the field by two shots.

The top 19 to 21 golfers and ties, depending on the size of the fields, from each of six second-stage tournaments around the country this week will advance to the final round of qualifying school in Florida, where they'll play six rounds to determine who earns the Tour card for 2010. At Pine Mountain, the top 20 will advance.

Duke fell below the No. 125 cutoff in money winnings in 2009, requiring him to regain his card. He was able to sit out the first stage qualifying tournament before competing in 'Q' school's second stage.

Little Rock's Ron Whittaker is also at Pine Mountain and was tied for 45th after one round at 1-under-par.

Glen Day of Little Rock is in Kingwood, Texas, just outside of Houston, at the second stage there, along with Fayetteville's Nick Beach. Day and Beach both shot 2-under in the opening round and are tied for 23rd place at Deerwood Golf Club, where the top 19 players and ties will advance to the final stage. Fayetteville's Allen McFerran is also at Kingwood and shot 5-over on day 1.

Former Razorback golfers Brenden Pappas and Tag Ridings are in the second stage being held in McKinney, Texas, near Dallas. Colt Knost, the former U.S. Amateur and U.S. Publinx champion who won the Nationwide's Fort Smith Classic in 2008, with with Pappas in TPC Craig Ranch at McKinney. Pappas and Knost, an SMU product, were tied for 17th after round one at 1-under par.  Dallas native Ridings was at 1-over and tied for 49th. The top 21 and ties advance from McKinney.

Brent Kelley's golf blog has a full rundown who who is qualifying in the second stage of Q school with hopes of regaining their Tour card. For those who follow pro golf, the who's who of qualifiers shows just how competitive the PGA Tour has become. Even one-time PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel of Memphis is back fighting for his Tour privileges.

PGATour.com also has a full preview of the weeklong event.

 

Correspondent Jonathan Willard was on hand Wednesday night as Little Rock native Dickey Nutt took on his former employer, Arkansas State, in men's college basketball in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

ASU won the game easily 58-41 over Southeast Missour. Nutt took over a SEMO program reeling in the wake of scandal over recruiting and the dismissal of former coach Scott Edgar. Nutt coached 17 years at Arkansas State, including 10 as head coach before the school let him go following the 2008 season.

Wednesday marked Nutt's first game coaching against the Red Wolves. ASU coach John Brady, whose team got its second win of the 2009-2010 campaign in two outings, and Nutt talked about the matchup afterward.

ArkansasSports360.com SEC Rankings

Rank	Team	Trending	Comment
1.	Alabama	---	Tide finding more offensive weapons for last push to No. 1.
2.	Florida	---	Gators put Spurrier, Gamecocks to sleep.
3.	LSU	---	Tigers are physically hurting heading into Oxford.
4.	Ole Miss	↑	Win out and it's New Year's in Florida.
5.	Arkansas	↑	Mallett is putting on a show against defenseless foes.
6.	Tennessee	↓	McClustered.
7.	Georgia	↑	Earns a big win for Richt; 8-4 is within reach.
8.	Auburn	↓	Couldn't sustain big start at Georgia.
9.	Miss. State	↓	Blew early chances against Tide and crumbled; tough finishing stretch.
10.	South Carolina	---	Competitive against Gators, but still a loser.
11.	Kentucky	---	Best of the bottom two and bowling.
12.	Vanderbilt	---	Likely to finish winless in conference play.

 

Now that Arkansas has six victories, the program is bowl eligible. It's too early to tell for sure where the Razorbacks are going, but here are some popular projections:

*Cotton Bowl vs. Big 12 opponent (ESPN/Chris Low), Jan. 2

*Cotton Bowl vs. Oklahoma State (ESPN/Marck Schlabach), Jan. 2

*Liberty Bowl vs. Houston (ESPN/Bruce Feldman), Jan. 2

*Independence Bowl vs. Iowa State (College Football Talk), Dec. 28 

*Independence Bowl vs. Missouri (College Football News), Dec. 28

 

It is way too early to tell what sort of season Arkansas basketball will have. What we do know is that off-season perception of the Razorbacks was not good thanks to an assortment of off-court issues.

Give credit to Rotnei Clarke for doing what he can to change that perception early on. Clarke's 51 points and 13 three-pointers were Arkansas records and got national attention focused on that, rather than the Razorbacks' ongoing drama.

Foxsports.com columnist Jeff Goodman listed Clarke as the "Stud" of opening week.

STUD OF THE WEEK: Rotnei Clarke - We gave him the nod as the No. 1 shooter in the country a month or so ago, and he lived up to the hype as the sophomore made 13-of-17 shots from beyond the arc to break the SEC mark for trifectas in a game. He also finished with 51 points in the rout.

CBSSports.com columnist Gary Parrish gives Clarke the nod as the player most deserving of "improper benefits." That's Parrish's player of the week honor.

Player who deserves improper benefits: The star of the weekend was the aforementioned Clarke, a sophomore guard from Arkansas who sank a SEC-record 13 of 17 3-pointers and finished with 51 points in a 130-68 victory over Alcorn State. "I just felt like every time I shot it, it was going in," Clarke said. More times than not, he was correct.

Clarke recognized the game as an opportunity to convert attention from negative to positive. It was on his mind has he set records and five teammates weren't even allowed in the building because of disciplinary issues.

"It was fun to share than moment with the guys on this team," Clarke said. "We had some adversity coming in.

"We wanted to give the fans something to talk about."

Arkansas could further improve its reputation with a nice showing against No. 20 Louisville on Tuesday in St. Louis. The Razorbacks and Cardinals tip at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

It was a great weekend to wear No. 15 at the University of Arkansas.

Razorback guard Rotnei Clarke and quarterback Ryan Mallett have that number in common for their respective sports. They also shared a record-setting weekend for Arkansas.

Clarke got things going on Friday in a 130-68 victory against Alcorn State. He scored a school-best 51 points, while hitting 13 thee-pointers, also a record.

For his efforts Clarke was named SEC Player of the Week.

Mallett didn't garner league-wide honors, but was still impressive in a 56-20 victory against non-conference opponent Troy. Mallett set or tied four school records in going 20 of 30 for 405 yards and five touchdowns.

Following Saturday's game Mallett has 2,882 yards this season, breaking Clint Stoerner's record of 2,629.

Mallett was not named SEC Player of the Week for football.

That's understandable, though.

Mallett's efforts came against a non-conference foe, while Ole Miss running back Dexter McCluster ran for a school record 282 yards and four touchdowns against Tennessee.

Mallett and Clarke have plenty of time to continue building a legacy at Arkansas. Both are just sophomores.

 

There are two regular season games and presumably a bowl remaining for the Razorbacks. But before we turn our attention to all that, let's take a final look and close the book on :  Arkansas 56, Troy 20.

*Not surprisingly, the Razorbacks grade out well after Saturday's game. Chris Bahn gives out fairly high grades all around. Did he get them right?

*Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson sat Saturday's game out after being hospitalized with an "infection." So the team dedicated the game to him. Chris Bahn writes that the Razorbacks did Willy proud, for the most part.

*It was a record-breaking day for the Razorbacks. We've got it all detailed in our Two-Minute Drill.

*Jim Harris figures Troy might be the class of the Sun Belt, but the Trojans were no match for a Razorback team looking to set records and clinch bowl eligibility.

*Jim Harris blogged about it all as it was happening. Want to know what he was thinking as it all unfolded? Read it.