That was no more evident than Wednesday night. The Razorbacks, a perceived NCAA Tournament contender last week, lost 81-59 at SEC bottom feeder Georgia.

Now with quality wins against Michigan, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt at home, the road loss to the Bulldogs (11-12, 2-7 SEC) will appear front-and-center on Arkansas’ postseason resume. With the loss, the Razorbacks dropped to 0-8 away from Fayetteville this season.

Unlike recent close road losses at Alabama and LSU, the Razorbacks were down and out early against the Bulldogs. Georgia used a 15-0 run in the first half to take control and Arkansas was never able to pull within single-digits in the game’s final 29 minutes, 40 seconds.

Georgia, which was averaging just less than 55 points per SEC game, led by as many as 27 points with its best offensive game of the conference season. The Bulldogs hit 53 percent of their shots and the league’s worst rebounding team outrebounded the Razorbacks by 23.

Like Alabama and LSU, Georgia snapped a multi-game losing streak against the Razorbacks. The Bulldogs had lost four straight games entering the contest.

“We were just flat,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “There was no energy. Of all the people that were surprised, I would be the most surprised, because I thought we’d come out and really defend and give ourselves a chance. But tonight we just didn’t.”

The loss almost assuredly knocks the Razorbacks (16-8, 4-5 SEC) from the NCAA Tournament at-large picture. Arkansas entered the game ranked No. 57 in the RPI, but fell to No. 72 afterward.

Arkansas will face South Carolina (9-14, 1-8 SEC) on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena in a game that might help the Razorbacks’ win total, but won’t assist the RPI. It will be a good gauge of where the team is mentally after the most mind-boggling road performance this season.

On paper, the game against the Gamecocks is the most winnable one left for the Razorbacks this season.

Arkansas ends the regular season with three road games at Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State, and home games against Florida, Alabama and Ole Miss.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

The first game of the series would be played at Arkansas, according to the report, with the Razorbacks returning a game to Rutgers the following year.

The report doesn’t specify at which venue the 2012 game would be played. Arkansas could potentially play the game in Fayetteville, Little Rock or Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the school is currently under a 10-year contract to play one game annually.

The report states the 2013 game will be played on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway, N.J., though the Scarlet Knights have recently explored the possibility of playing a marquee nonconference matchup at MetLife Stadium just outside New York City.

Arkansas has been looking for a fourth nonconference opponent since unveiling a partial schedule in December. The Razorbacks are scheduled to play Tulsa, Louisiana-Monroe and Jacksonville State next season, but currently lack a nonconference opponent from a BCS automatic qualifying conference.

Rutgers, a member of the Big East conference, is scheduled to play Tulane, Army and Kent State in nonconference games next season. The Big East conference schedule has yet to be finalized as the league is in a legal battle with West Virginia, which announced its intentions to join the Big 12 next year.

Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said last month the Razorbacks would be able to finalize their schedule once the legal issues surrounding West Virginia’s move were resolved. In addition to the Big East, the Big 12 has yet to release its conference schedule.

The Razorbacks and Scarlet Knights both currently have open dates on Sept. 22 and Oct. 20. The two programs have never met in football.

Arkansas is in need of a new nonconference opponent because of Texas A&M’s move to the Southeastern Conference later this year. The Hogs and Aggies were scheduled to meet at Cowboys Stadium through the 2018 season as nonconference foes.

Reports indicate Texas A&M wants to move that series to the schools’ campuses beginning next season. Long and Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino have expressed the desire to keep a game in the Dallas suburb for the duration of the existing contract with the stadium.

Next season will be a transition year at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights hired Kyle Flood as their new head coach last month after Greg Schiano was hired as the head coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Schiano went 68-67 in 11 seasons at Rutgers, leading the program to five consecutive bowl wins.

Petrino is no stranger to facing Rutgers, having done so twice while head coach at Louisville. That included a nationally-televised Thursday night primetime game when both teams were ranked during the 2006 season.

2012 Arkansas Football Schedule

Sept. 1 – Jacksonville State (Home)

Sept. 8 – Louisiana-Monroe (Home)

Sept. 15 – Alabama (Home)

Sept. 22 – TBD

Sept. 29 – Texas A&M (Away or Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas)

Oct. 6 – Auburn (Away)

Oct. 13 – Kentucky (Home)

Oct. 20 – TBD

Oct. 27 – Ole Miss (Home)

Nov. 3 – Tulsa (Home)

Nov. 10 – South Carolina (Away)

Nov. 17 – Mississippi State (Away)

Nov. 24 – LSU (Home)

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

Among the notables, the preseason No. 4 Razorbacks will face preseason No. 1 Florida on ESPN on April 29, and will host preseason No. 3 South Carolina on ESPN2 on May 5.

Two games between Arkansas and preseason No. 8 LSU will also be televised, and the Razorbacks will also host Auburn on May 10 as part of ESPNU’s “Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week”.

Cox Sports will also televise eight of Arkansas’ games. The announcement for those games is expected prior to the beginning of the season.

Arkansas hosts Villanova next Friday for the first of a three-game series at Baum Stadium.

2012 Arkansas Baseball TV Games

March 17 – Alabama @ Arkansas, CSS, 3 p.m.

March 25 – Arkansas @ Mississippi State, Fox Sports Southwest, Noon

March 30 – Arkansas @ LSU, CSS, 7 p.m.

March 31 – Arkansas @ LSU, ESPNU, 7 p.m.

April 29 – Arkansas @ Florida, ESPN, 2:30 p.m.

May 4 – South Carolina @ Arkansas, ESPNU, 7 p.m.

May 5 – South Carolina @ Arkansas, ESPN2, Noon

May 10 – Auburn @ Arkansas, ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

As a result, one of the oldest arguments in the state – where the Razorbacks should and shouldn’t play football – could begin to heat up again.

Less than four months after the University of Arkansas unveiled plans for future expansion to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, War Memorial Stadium manager Charles Staggs told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he and the stadium commission are looking into expanding the Little Rock venue where the Razorbacks currently play twice annually.

The reason for the potential expansion, Staggs said, is a concern Arkansas might pull games from War Memorial Stadium once the current agreement between the two sides ends in 2016.

The contract was extended by two years in 2008. Arkansas officials said at the time the extension showed their long-term commitment to Little Rock, but failed to mention the Razorbacks still were scheduled to play three games there in two remaining seasons under the old agreement.

Arkansas has since entered into a 10-year agreement to play an annual game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. While it appears its original decade-long contract to play Texas A&M there could be broken because of dual conference affiliation, the Razorbacks continue to express their desire to keep a game there, regardless of the opponent.

With three games promised to stadiums away from its base and a non-negotiable stance to keep five games in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks find themselves in a unique situation. Arkansas is the only major college football program to play multiple home games away from its campus annually.

Some point to this to highlight the unmatched support the Razorbacks have across the state, while others view it as an unnecessary way of the past which is hurting the program financially (Arkansas pays $75,000 per game to play at War Memorial) and in recruiting (schools can host prospects off campus once).

Whichever way you look at it, there is no denying the stability of the 63-year-old Little Rock stadium hangs in the balance of the UA’s future plans there.

The concern on the War Memorial part is valid. In part because of a first-year seating equity plan through the Razorback Foundation, there was a 17 percent decrease in season tickets sold to UA donors at the stadium for the 2011 season.

There is also a growing belief the stadium’s marquee match-up for nearly two decades – Arkansas’ post-Thanksgiving game every other year against LSU – could move to the Fayetteville campus next season. The demand for tickets to that game is always high and Razorback Stadium can seat around 22,000 more fans.

Staggs told the AP the two annual Arkansas games are the “lifeblood of the stadium”, which has a listed capacity of 53,955 and also hosts the state’s six high school championship games. The stadium has hosted games for other state colleges and other miscellaneous events, but only the Razorbacks are able to come close to selling-out the existing seats.

A $7.3 million renovation to the stadium (the UA committed $500,00 to improvements there) yielded a new press box and a handful of club seats in 2010. The future expansion would expand the box down the stadium’s west side and add more club seats, Staggs said.

Club seats are the predominant feature in the UA’s future expansion to its on-campus stadium. The project will cost up to $95 million, based on figures released in October, and will add around 5,000 seats to the stadium, which received a $126 million expansion in 2001.

The time line to begin the Fayetteville expansion is unknown, but likely won’t start for at least another few years. The UA is currently in the process of constructing a football operations complex that will cost in excess of $41 million, and additional structures for other university sports – such as a basketball practice facility – could take precedence over a stadium expansion.

Little Rock officials are hopeful they can entice the Razorbacks to stay around for the long haul by firing the first shot in the arms race for affection.

“We couldn’t survive,” Staggs told the AP, “without those two games we have here.”

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas travels to Georgia on Wednesday (SEC Network, 7:05 p.m.) still looking for its first win away from home this season.

The Razorbacks (16-7, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a 71-65 loss at LSU over the weekend to fall to 0-7 this season away from Bud Walton Arena.

The Bulldogs (10-12, 1-7 SEC) have lost four straight games, most recently a 73-62 decision at Tennessee over the weekend.

Arkansas holds a 16-12 lead in the all-time series between the schools, but Georgia has won the last two games between the teams.

YOU PICK: We want your prediction. Simply reply to this blog in the comments section with your predicted winner and margin of victory. The participant to closest pick the margin will receive a T-shirt from Fayettechill and will be entered for a grand prize drawing at the end of the regular season.

As a tiebreaker, tell us how many points the two teams will combine to score.

Congratulations to Scott Norman from Las Vegas, Nev., who won the T-shirt by correctly picking the margin for our last contest.

The Slophouse Pick (5-4)

Arkansas is stepping into a situation it knows all-too-well this season.

The Razorbacks are going on the road to play a struggling home team in the midst of a multi-game losing streak. Sound familiar?

Arkansas’ last two road trips to Alabama and LSU had similar storylines, with the home teams riding losing streaks of four and three games, respectively. In each instance, the Razorbacks left for home with a 6-point defeat.

The winless road record is beginning to hurt what looked like a good chance at the postseason for Arkansas. The Razorbacks badly need a road win and if there ever was a chance, it would be at the league’s worst team record-wise.

Expect a low-scoring game because of struggling offenses. Arkansas hasn’t scored more than 66 points in a true road game this season and the Bulldogs are averaging a league-worst 60.6 points overall.

For the first time in several games, Arkansas could have an advantage on the boards. Georgia’s minus-3.0 per game rebounding margin is the SEC’s only worse than the Razorbacks’ minus-2.2. Drastic rebound margins have been key in several of Arkansas’ losses this season.

Marvell Waithe is finally close to 100 percent with a calf injury that has plagued him for much of the season. Don’t discount his 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game prior to the injury. Those points, after all, have been the margin of defeat in road games since the injury and his absence has forced the Razorbacks’ big men to play more minutes.

Conventional wisdom says to pick Georgia at home, though conventional wisdom has to be wrong at some point this year. Arkansas gets back-to-back games this week against teams with a combined two SEC wins this season. A loss in either will likely end any hopes of an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas by 1

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

So it comes as no surprise Richardson’s story is featured in the third installment of the series. The documentary “40 Minutes of Hell” will premiere Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

While Richardson’s success at Arkansas through the first half of the 1990s has become but a footnote in college basketball history, it helped change the game, particularly in the Southeastern Conference.

The Razorbacks of the ’90s were one of few programs in the league’s history to challenge Kentucky’s stronghold of power. In fact, Arkansas beat the Wildcats in the first four regular season contests between the programs after the Razorbacks joined the SEC in the ’91-92 season.

From 1990-96, the Razorbacks won 195 games – more than any other program in college basketball. Arkansas made the Final Four three times during that era, winning the NCAA Tournament in ’94 and finishing runner-up a year later.

“I think that championship team sometimes gets overshadowed by some of the other championship teams during that time,” said John Dahl, ESPN Executive Producer. “But you look back at that championship game against Duke and it was a great game. That Scotty Thurman shot as the buzzer went off is one of the great shots you’ll ever see in a national championship game.

“It is a little surprising that game has not resonated a little more in the long-term. When you look at it, it really was a terrific game and that was a great Arkansas team.”

The 48-minute documentary captures the success of the Razorbacks in the years leading up to and during the championship season by offering the first in-depth video biography of Richardson since his days as Arkansas’ coach.

Longtime Arkansas fans know much of the backstory to Richardson’s success. He was a prep superstar in racially-diverse El Paso, had a slow and unconventional ascent through the coaching ranks and mourned the death of his young daughter shortly after his arrival in Fayetteville, where he became the first Black head coach of a major college sports program in the South.

“When you look at the Arkansas program in the modern era, it really emanates from Nolan Richardson,” Dahl said.

“It’s about him in so many ways, from his philosophy to the way he was able to motivate his players and get the most out of them. If you’re going to understand why Arkansas became national champion, you really need to understand Nolan Richardson. You need to understand what he went through just to become Arkansas’ head coach.”

After leading the Razorbacks to 389 wins over the course of 17 seasons, Richardson was fired in 2002 after alleging a racial double-standard among the school’s coaches. A racial discrimination lawsuit against the school was later dismissed.

Arkansas’ next nine seasons following his departure are portrayed as mediocre. During the same time, Richardson had short coaching stints with the Panamanian and Mexican national teams, and with the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, though those are not discussed in the film.

Perhaps because of the fallout at Arkansas and the program’s drop-off since, ESPN.com senior writer Ryan McGee notes in the film that Richardson – a College Basketball Hall of Fame member – doesn’t receive his due recognition as one of the coaches who changed the way college basketball is played. Mike Anderson, Richardson’s longtime assistant and first-year Arkansas head coach, calls his mentor a “pioneer”.

“He won 70 percent of his games at Arkansas,” Dahl said. “You look at his run of success, particularly in the early ’90s, and it’s really extraordinary what he did.

“There are some who perhaps overlook some of what he accomplished.”

The film attempts to capture the relationship between Richardson’s and Anderson, who played for him at Tulsa. In the film, Anderson talks about his close relationship with the Richardson family, including the coach’s late daughter, Yvonne, who died of leukemia in 1987.

“She was like my little sister,” Anderson said.

Like many, Dahl said he was somewhat surprised when Anderson left nationally-prominent Missouri to take the Razorbacks’ head coaching vacancy last year. However, he said after working on the film, he has a greater appreciation for the bond between Anderson and the Arkansas program.

“In a sense, he is like a son to Nolan Richardson,” Dahl said. “It makes sense that he would come home and try to carry on this legacy Nolan Richardson had established during that period.”

Richardson’s relationship with Anderson isn’t the only one highlighted in the film. It includes an interview with Bill Clinton, who became the first sitting U.S. president to attend a college basketball in December 1993. He would attend four more games during the course of his presidency.

“He was very much into it, and not just somebody who was a casual fan,” Dahl said. “That came through in our interviews. It was very genuine, his interest and the level of detail he knew about the program and Nolan Richardson. His interview was full of insights that capture Arkansas basketball at that time.

“When the interview ended, President Clinton wanted the cell phone numbers of Nolan Richardson and Corliss Williamson so he could catch up with them. That tells you right there, he’s a genuine fan.”

The film was originally scheduled to be released in March, but its production was accelerated for its release to coincide with Black History Month instead.

It includes interviews with Richardson, Clinton, Anderson, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, former UA chancellor John White, several former Arkansas players and Richardson biographer Rus Bradburd, among others.

The film is directed by Kenan K. Holley, produced by Rory Karpf, narrated by Charles S. Dutton and features an original soundtrack “Pressure Makes” by the group Dyin’ Breed.

It will be shown following Arkansas’ game against South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

Receivers Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, and defensive end Jake Bequette are on the invite list for this year’s combine, which will be held from Feb. 22-28 in Indianapolis.

Adams has become a hot commodity in recent months after leading the NCAA with four punt return touchdowns in 2011 and catching 8 passes for 133 yards in last month’s Senior Bowl, finishing as his team’s most valuable player.

Several projections have Adams currently as a second-round pick, though there is belief that could rise with a strong performance at the combine.

Childs, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2010, could significantly help his draft stock with a strong showing. Arkansas’ leading receiver in the two years prior, Childs struggled after returning for his senior season, catching 21 passes for 240 yards and no touchdowns.

Wright is coming off a strong senior season, setting single-season school records for receptions (66), receiving yards (1,117) and receiving touchdowns (12).

Wright also holds the school record for career receptions (168) and career receiving yards (2,934), and set a school record with 289 receiving yards in a game against Texas A&M last season.

Bequette, who missed three games with a hamstring injury, still recorded a team-high 10 sacks and five forced fumbles last season. His father, Jay, played pro football in the USFL.

Former Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett, tight end D.J. Williams and offensive linemen Ray Dominguez and DeMarcus Love participated in last year’s combine. Mallett (Patriots), Williams (Packers) and Love (Vikings) were drafted, while Dominguez signed a rookie free agent contract with the Packers.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

The tournament, which will either be held at AT&T Park in San Franciso or Evans Diamond on the University of California campus in Berkley, will also include California, San Francisco and Tulane.

Arkansas is no stranger to early season tournaments or road trips, which Van Horn said are necessary to prepare for road series in conference play.

The Razorbacks will face Texas Tech, Houston and Texas in a tournament at MinuteMaid Park in Houston next month and will participate in a tournament hosted by Arizona State at a spring training facility in Surprise, Ariz., next year. Arkansas has scheduled early season games at California and San Diego State in the previous two seasons.

The tournaments also help the Razorbacks in recruiting, Van Horn said, by being able to promise trips home to recruits from those areas. Catcher Jake Wise, infielder Eric Fisher and pitcher Ty Wright are from the Houston area, while freshman position player Joe Serrano is from Arizona.

“We recruit a lot of Texas kids, so if I can get down that way, I will,” Van Horn said. “Kids want to play good competition. If you can throw in schools they are familiar with or schools that recruited them, or a school that’s in their area, that always excites them.

“You throw in a good tournament on the road – whether it’s in Arizona, California or Florida – and that gets them excited.”

In addition to the tournament in Arizona, Arkansas will face San Diego State in a four-game series at Baum Stadium and travel to Nebraska for a two-game midweek series in 2013. The Cornhuskers, which Van Horn coached for five seasons prior to taking the Arkansas job, will return the trip to Fayetteville in 2014.

The Razorbacks were scheduled to face Missouri in 2013 as part of a home-and-home nonconference series, but that trip has since been canceled because of the Tigers’ move to the SEC next season. Missouri will play at Arkansas for a two-game midweek series this season.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

Arkansas (16-7, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) fell short on the road for the sixth time this season and lost its seventh game away from Bud Walton Arena.

In response to LSU’s two runs of 10-0 and 17-6 in the first half, Arkansas made a 11-4 run at the end of the half that included a BJ Young lay-up as time expired.  The Tigers still took a 35-31 lead into the locker room.

Mardracus Wade led the Razorbacks in scoring with 15 points, but he only added three points in the second half.  Julysses Nobles had 14 points in the game, including six in the final 5 minutes, 15 seconds.  Rashad Madden added 10 off-the-bench points, as well.

LSU won the rebounding battle 43-39.  The Tigers managed to grab 14 offensive rebounds and also had 12 blocks.

Arkansas fouled 24 times, while LSU had 17 fouls.  The Tigers shot 1o more free throws than the Razorbacks.

LSU had four players score in double-figures.  Ralston Turner had 16 points, Justin Hamilton earned a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Anthony Hickey and Eddie Ludwig each added 12 points.

The Razorbacks will travel to Athens, Ga. on Wednesday, still looking for their first road win of the season.  Georgia (10-12, 1-7 SEC) lost at Tennessee on Saturday.

NOTABLE:

• LSU’s Anthony Hickey is now shooting 50 percent on the season after going 6-11 against Arkansas.
• The Tigers’ 12 team blocks was a season-high, including Justin Hamilton’s four, which matched a personal career-high. Hamilton recorded his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Arkansas fell to 1-10 in its last 11 trips to LSU.
• Hunter Mickelson picked up three blocks and has now recorded a block in all 23 games this season. Mickelson has 57 blocks and is now just three behind Oliver Miller’s freshman school record of 60.
• Marvell Waithe received very limited playing time again.  Waithe, a 6-foot-9 forward, injured his calf on Jan. 21 against Michigan. He missed two games with the injury and has played only sparingly in the last two games.
• The attendance at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center was 9,352.

Quotable:

“We had windows of opportunity to win on the road and we just didn’t finish going down the stretch. I thought there were some controversial plays that probably should have gone our way. So, with that being said, that’s life on the road.” — Mike Anderson

-Logan Wilson

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas travels to LSU on Saturday (SEC Network, 12:47 p.m.) looking for its first win away from home this season.

The Razorbacks (16-6, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a 82-74 win over No. 25 Vanderbilt on Tuesday to improve to 16-0 this season at Bud Walton Arena.

The Tigers (12-9, 2-5 SEC) are coming off a 74-50 home loss to No. 1 Kentucky last Saturday – their third straight defeat.

The game will be the second this season between the two schools. Arkansas beat LSU 69-60 last month in Fayetteville.

Arkansas holds a 31-22 lead in the series between the two schools. The Pete Maravich Assembly Center has historically been a difficult place for the Razorbacks to play, winning just once there in the last 10 trips.

YOU PICK: We want your prediction. Simply reply to this blog in the comments section with your predicted winner and margin of victory. The participant to closest pick the margin will receive a T-shirt from Fayettechill and will be entered for a grand prize drawing at the end of the regular season.

As a tiebreaker, tell us how many points the two teams will combine to score.

Congratulations to Lauren Jones from Broken Arrow, Okla., who won the T-shirt for closest picking the margin and winning the tiebreaker in our last contest.

The Slophouse Pick (5-3)

This could be Arkansas’ best chance at a road win yet this season.

LSU has been a difficult place for the Razorbacks to play in recent years, but Arkansas is playing almost as well as any team in the SEC. Last weekend’s late-game collapse at Alabama was the Razorbacks’ only blemish since a loss at Kentucky in mid-January.

The Tigers are a little different now than when they came to Fayetteville last month with the addition of freshman Johnny O’Bryant. The 6-foot-9 freshman and McDonald’s All-American missed the game last month with a broken hand.

He held his own last week against a talented Kentucky frontcourt in just his second game back, scoring 12 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. He and 7-foot junior Justin Hamilton give LSU an advantage inside the paint.

That was the case in the last meeting, but Arkansas countered by disrupting LSU with pressure defense, forcing 16 turnovers. That style has been key to other wins this season against the likes of Mississippi State, Michigan and Vanderbilt.

The difference has been on the offensive end, where the Razorbacks are scoring greater than 8 points more per home game since the beginning of conference play.

At some point this season, Arkansas will be able to take its home style on the road and win. That point could very well be Saturday.

Arkansas by 2

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.