It’s been a “whirlwind spring and early summer for Buzz Williams. He abruptly moved from Texas to Maryland, built a new roster, hired a staff and swung back to Texas to renew his wedding vows with his wife.

“It was a memorable deal. I’d never been to a vow renewal. I hadn’t, to be transparent, I’d never even heard of the word,” he told Jon Rothstein (more from the interview here). “I just didn’t know that in year 25, 50 days before the vow renewal, I would move halfway across the country. So the timing of when we moved and when our children moved, and all of the different pieces that come in a transition, kind of centered around the vow renewal. But I would have never thought anything would have transpired in my career the way that it has. I was a junior college manager. I was an NAIA manager and from a town that still doesn’t have a stoplight. So all of this has been way more than I could have ever even dreamed.

“I wouldn’t have believed one syllable of that. I’ve been blessed way more than I deserve, not only professionally but personally.

Maryland Basketball Scoop: Who’s the Terps’ top NBA prospect and who could be the next one?

Rothstein asked Williams how good his Maryland team might be next season.

“I kind of go back and forth, you know? I think some of it, John—I don’t know if we’re great. Because we played six teams in the Big Ten last year at Texas A&M, so I have some familiarity. But in truth, that’s the depth of knowledge that I’m comfortable with competitively speaking, and I haven’t studied enough since I’ve been here on Big Ten because we’ve been trying to put together our roster. Do I think we’re great? I don’t know. I would say I don’t think we’re bad, but I don’t know if that means that we’re great.”

More below from Williams on NIL, running out of underwear and more:

Although several inexplicable blunders in the bottom of the ninth inning against the LSU Tigers (53-15, 19-11 SEC), the eventual winner of the 2025 College World Series, caused the Arkansas Razorbacks (50-15, 20-10 SEC) to miss another opportunity to win the college baseball national championship, they and Razorback Nation should feel proud of what the team accomplished and that Arkansas has one of the five most elite college baseball programs in the nation.  

While Razorback fans were heartbroken after another legitimate chance to win a college baseball national championship slipped away, they weren’t more devastated than the players after the loss against LSU. The reality is it’s difficult to win a national championship at any institution, regardless of the sport. Certain teams in specific sports have, of course, experienced more success than most others in winning national championships. However, again, it’s never a metaphorical stroll in the park for any team in any sport to win it all.   

While the players and coaches genuinely comprehend how challenging it is for the Diamond Hogs to be one of the best teams in the nation and a real contender for a national championship each season, even if such an effort falls short, many in Razorback Nation must learn to appreciate how special this reality is. The players wish to win a College World Series for the state, university, and Dave Van Horn more than any fan, analyst, or journalist. They’re not complacent with simply being an elite team; they want to win multiple national championships.

For the Razorbacks to win a College World Series under Van Horn, it will take everyone in Razorback Nation, including fans and the Arkansas media, playing a role in helping those national championships to materialize. The Hogs don’t suffer from a curse, for such discourse is a distraction at best, one that allows fans who believe that Arkansas sports are cursed to sleep better at night when the Hogs disappoint them, especially in the most significant moments.

Believing that the Razorbacks are cursed permits one to overlook the larger forces and issues at play in the epic letdowns that have caused them to focus on such nonsense, which is ultimately an unproductive form of self-medication.

Recognizing how unserious discussions about a Razorbacks curse are, this article identifies root causes of those forces and issues that can be verified by evidence and dismisses the laughable notion of such a curse, which raises spiritual, theological, and metaphysical questions that lack any authentic relationship to any of the misfortunes Arkansas Razorbacks athletics have experienced. Also, this article offers measures that can be taken to support the Diamond Hogs in winning a College World Series under Van Horn.  

Hunter Yurachek must employ systems theory for Arkansas baseball

When assessing the success or failure of a college team, many fans immediately look at the coaches and players. While they ultimately play the most crucial roles in the success or failure of a team, the athletic director is not only the most foundational person in affecting a team’s outcomes, but also the most vital individual in determining the overall outcomes of the entire athletic program. Hunter Yurachek, the director of athletics at the University of Arkansas, has made some decisions that have thrilled Hogs fans and some that have enraged them.

Regardless of how fans feel about Yurachek, most of the current teams at Arkansas are nationally competitive. However, he receives his most vocal criticism about the way he handles the football team. Of the big three sports programs—football, basketball, and baseball—it’s the football program that disappoints fans the most, especially considering that Arkansas’ baseball and basketball teams are elite. The last time the Razorbacks won a national championship in one of these three programs was in 1994 when Nolan Richardson was the head basketball coach.  

Understandably, therefore, Razorback Nation is eager for another national championship from the big three sports programs. The football and basketball teams have produced national championships. However, although the Diamond Hogs have been elite under Van Horn, they’re the only one of three Arkansas programs yet to win a national championship. Yurachek can play an instrumental role in changing this reality. To achieve this feat, he will need to use systems theory to guide his administrative approach toward the entire athletics program.

Although Yurachek earned a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Richmond, he lacks a discernible guiding framework, such as systems theory, to support his administrative practice. The present writer graduated from the top-ranked higher education administration program in the nation, with a specialization in college athletic administration.

In such a graduate program, which is similar to Yurachek’s, one learns how essential it is to ground one’s work in an established framework. Systems theory is a common framework taught in sports administration graduate programs. Adopting such an approach has a long history of success, as reflected in published empirical research.

Systems theory directs an executive leader to assess how each part (such as a player) in a system (the entire team or the entire Arkansas Razorbacks athletic program) is working toward achieving the desired goals and outcomes of the system. If Yurachek had applied this approach, he would have learned essential lessons about each sport and provided adequate responses to the wisdom of those lessons.

For example, when Van Horn’s teams seem to lose focus each season at specific points, systems theory informs Yurachek to invest in people and technology to aid the coaching staff in keeping the players focused, giving them data and analytics about how a loss of focus has historically harmed them, including what the unfocused team looks like qualitatively and quantitatively.

Dave Van Horn must focus Arkansas baseball to win College World Series

Although Van Horn needs more human and technological support to help his team sustain its focus throughout the season, as previously mentioned, he must make this one of his highest priorities throughout the entire season. Without his robust and unwavering personal commitment to such focus, he will not win a College World Series before he retires.

When the team wins notable games, he must lead it in maintaining the proper balance, never allowing such wins to cause it to think more highly of itself than it should. Van Horn must ensure those wins don’t distract the team from the need to continue improving. The Hogs must never become complacent.

Even though many Razorback fans may not want to hear it, one of Van Horn’s greatest weaknesses is keeping his team metaphorically hungry for an entire season. Every team, at some point, loses this hunger. Unfortunately for Hogs fans, when Arkansas’ intensity diminishes, it’s always at the most inopportune times.

His team never recovers from losses in intensity. If Van Horn wishes to win that elusive national championship, he will commit to centering his team on focus. The Razorbacks don’t need him to make excuses for them when they lose intensity; they need him to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Remy Cofield is crucial to Arkansas baseball winning a College World Series

Yurachek made an excellent decision in hiring Remy Cofield as deputy athletics director and general manager. In the athletic department’s announcement of Cofield’s hiring, Kevin Trainor noted that Cofield “will oversee the strategic allocation of department and affiliate resources to support Razorback head coaches in the acquisition and retention of championship-caliber athletic talent. He will lead player contract negotiations and collaborate with head coaches, recruiting coordinators and administrative staff in implementing each program’s strategic vision.”

Trainor’s statements about Cofield’s duties are good news for Arkansas fans, given that they resonate with systems theory, as previously delineated. Yurachek must permit Cofield to use his knowledge and experience to produce the best outcomes for Razorbacks athletics, which, of course, includes the Diamond Hogs. Yurachek shouldn’t micromanage someone with Cofield’s experience and record of accomplishments.

Although recruiting has been strong with Nate Thompson as recruiting coordinator, Van Horn and Thompson must recognize that recruitment needs to improve even more and should respond to lessons learned. For example, Arkansas needs to target ace pitchers like LSU’s Kade Anderson and Tennessee’s Liam Doyle when recruiting. Those types of pitchers can come to Arkansas and make it difficult for teams to win a series, including a series in the College World Series, against the Hogs.

Also, the Hogs need a more balanced approach in recruiting as it relates to their offense. They need more excellent hitters, those who can consistently generate singles and doubles, which will help them overcome their struggles with leaving runners on base. It’s not wise to have a lineup full of batters swing for the fences each time they come to the plate. Arkansas athletics must empower Cofield with the necessary funds to extend offers these recruits cannot refuse. Such targeted recruiting will lead Van Horn to at least one national championship.

Final Thoughts

Razorbacks athletics is strong. Therefore, Razorback Nation should uplift the university’s athletics. When Arkansas fans are on social media, they must recognize that recruits, including their parents, read and listen to what fans say. What fans communicate through social media platforms conveys vital information to them about the Hogs’ culture, whether or not it’s an accurate picture. If Arkansas fans want the best players to choose to join the Razorback family, they must play their part and promote Razorback athletics in a positive light.

Again, put an end to the unproductive talk about Arkansas sports being cursed. Instead, show recruits, their parents, and the nation why they should join Razorback Nation. More robust fan support can aid Arkansas baseball recruiting in landing the next player crucial to Van Horn securing his first national championship.

A lot has changed over the last 16 years, especially in college sports. Ed O’Bannon, the UCLA star who helped lead the Bruins men’s college basketball team to its most recent national championship in 1995, helped spark a lot of that change with the O’Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit. Recently, as a guest columnist for Sportico, O’Bannon discussed how things have changed.

In the article, O’Bannon recalled the event that got the wheels rolling in what turned out to be O’Bannon v. NCAA.

In 2009, well after his playing days were over, he was at a friend’s house. There, his friend’s son was playing March Madness. On the screen, O’Bannon saw himself. The game had everything about O’Bannon, with one notable exception.

“The game noticeably didn’t have my name, but it had everything else: Number 31. 6’8”. 222 pounds. Power forward. Left-handed,” he remembered. “It was very cool. Ironically, my friend mentioned how he paid $60 for the game. I had no idea that this likeness was created, because no one from EA Sports contacted me about it to ask for my approval or to use my NIL. And I definitely didn’t receive a dime.”

O’Bannon then recalled the NCAA’s history of fighting battles in the court, including O’Bannon v. NCAA. He noted that the lawsuits were all unsuccessful for the NCAA and that the latest, House v. NCAA, likely would have been as well were it not for a settlement reached in June.

“For decades, the NCAA spent many millions in court fighting against basic fairness and coming up with rules to treat athletes like we were second-class citizens,” O’Bannon said. “It was a losing strategy. The NCAA lost O’Bannon v. NCAA. They lost NCAA v. Alston. They lost the War on NIL. They were going to lose House v. NCAA until they faced up to reality and cut a deal. I’m glad the settlement will pay $2.8 billion to athletes who would have made video games and other NIL money but for NCAA rules.”

Early in the article, recalled that because of his legal challenges, he was “EA’s enemy No. 1” in 2009. Despite that, he noted that, while it’s still a few years away, if EA reached out to him about being in its upcoming college basketball game, he’d probably be on board.

“I understand EA’s college basketball game won’t be released until 2028,” he said. “In the meantime, maybe EA will reach out to former players on classic teams and ask us to be in the game. I’d be inclined to say yes. I know my grandkids would like me in it. And unlike before, where players’ names were stripped right before the game was published, this time the game would say my name. Doing the right thing can be as easy as a layup. We’re finally seeing that with college athletes’ rights. Keep it up.”

For those on the East Coast, West Coast games can make for late nights. What we miss is some excellent basketball, headed by some excellent coaches. The Big West conference has been one of the better mid-major conferences in college basketball for a while. Just last season, five Big West teams notched more than 20 wins, and the top two teams, UC San Diego and UC Irvine, went a combined 62-12 and 35-5 in conference play.

The Big West has been cultivating solid head coaches for a long time, and the conference has recently grown stronger due to the high quality of its head coaches. Two of those coaches, Mike Magpayo from UC Riverside and Eric Olen of UC San Diego, moved on to jobs at Fordham and New Mexico, respectively. The rest of the conference is littered with coaches who have had and continue to have success.

UC Irvine- Russell Turner

Let’s start with the most tenured coach in the conference and arguably the most successful, UC-Irvine’s Russell Turner. Turner will be entering his 16th season as the head coach of the Anteaters after his most successful season in terms of wins, going 32-7 in 2024-25. In addition, for the second straight season, UC Irvine finished 17-3 in league play and made a run to the NIT finals.

During his tenure, Turner has amassed 321 wins and, over that time, has had plenty of opportunities to move to another job but has stayed with the Anteaters. He’s eclipsed the 20-win mark 10 times and finished in the top two in the Big West 10 times. If you remove his first two seasons, which are also the only time his team finished below .500, his record is 288-148 with seven trips to either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT in 13 seasons. Turner and UC Irvine have become the gold standard for success in the Big West.

UC Santa Barbara-Joe Pasternack

Another Big West coach who has been extremely successful is Joe Pasternack at UC Santa Barbara. He spent four years as the head man at New Orleans before joining the Arizona staff in 2011. He remained in Tucson until 2017, when he took the job at UCSB. It wasn’t an easy job to take over as he was replacing the legendary Bob Williams, who is the school’s winningest coach with 313 wins.

Pasternack has certainly been up to the task of replacing a legend. Through eight years of his tenure, Pasternack has become the 3rd winningest coach in school history with a record of 169-81. He has won the Big West regular season and tournament championships twice, in both 2021 and 2023. Their trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 earned Pasternack Coach of the Year honors. The Gauchos have had a top-two conference finish five times in their eight years, a feat that Williams accomplished nine times in 19 seasons. UCSB has finished with at least 21 wins in all but two of Pasternack’s eight seasons, a mark Williams hit just twice in his career.

UC Riverside-Mike Magpayo and Gus Argenal

UC Riverside had to make a coaching change this summer because the most successful coach in the school’s Division I history, Mike Magpayo, moved on to take the head coaching job at Fordham. Magpayo spent five seasons with the Highlanders, compiling an 89-63 record. Magpayo notched a bunch of firsts for the Highlanders’ program at the Division I level. Their first 20-win season came in 2022-23, followed by another one this past season. They’ve also had their highest Big West Conference finish with three 3rd-place finishes in his five seasons. Magpayo went out with a bang, bringing the school its first trip to the NIT last year.

Hoping to repeat Magpayo’s success, UC Riverside dipped into the Division II ranks to find his replacement. They settled on Cal State San Bernardino head coach Gus Argenal for his first Division I head coaching job. Having played at UC Davis and coached there and at Cal State Fullerton, he’s quite familiar with the Big West. After two seasons on the staff at Arkansas, he took the job at Cal State San Bernardino. In two seasons with the Coyotes, he went 50-20 with two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the Final Four in 2023-24.

UC San Diego-Eric Olen and Clint Allard

Another team in the Big West that had to make a coaching change thanks to the success their former coach had is UC San Diego. In their first season of postseason eligibility, the Tritons and head coach Eric Olen grabbed the bull by the horns by going 30-5 and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Olen spent a total of 12 seasons with the Tritons, with the last five at the Division I level. In the previous five seasons at the Division II level, all Olen did was go 128-34 with 4 trips to the Big Dance. When the 2020 tournament was canceled, UC San Diego was 30-1 and 21-1 in conference play. Olen buoyed all of that success into the head coaching job at New Mexico after the season ended.

To replace Olen, the Tritons didn’t have to look far, just further down the bench, pegging associate head coach Clint Allard for the top seat. Allard is a Triton lifer, having played there and becoming an assistant with a short three-year stint at Cal Poly Pomona in between. Whether Allard can continue Olen’s success remains to be seen, but he’s had a bird’s eye view of what the recipe for success at UC San Diego looks like.

Hawaii-Eran Ganot

Eran Ganot is entering his 10th season at the helm of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. He’s already the school’s 2nd-winningest coach with a 171-118 record. Not only did Ganot reach the NCAA Tournament in his first year, he led the Rainbow Warriors to one of the biggest first-round upsets in the 2016 tournament, knocking off No. 4 seed California. Even though it has yet to reach the postseason since his inaugural season, Hawaii has been consistent, finishing in the top five of the Big West in six of his last nine seasons.

Over the last three seasons, Hawaii has seen the most success the team has seen since Ganot’s first year. In that span, Hawaii has a 57-41 record, including back-to-back 20-win seasons from 2022-2024, they hadn’t reached that benchmark since his first season. This season will be Hawaii’s final in the Big West as they are slated to move to the Mountain West in 2026. Expect their swan song to be another consistently strong finish.

Cal State Northridge-Andy Newman

For the second time in this piece, Cal State San Bernardino has lost a coach to the Big West. Before the 2023-24 season, Cal State Northridge grabbed CSU San Bernardino coach Andy Newman to be their new head coach. After five successful seasons with the Coyotes, Newman received another chance to be a head man at the Division I level. He was the interim head coach at Cal State Fullerton back in 2012 when the Titans went 14-18.

Very quickly, Newman has proven he was more prepared this time around. In his first year in 2023, he led the Matadors to a 19-15 record. That may not make people stand up and take notice, but when it’s the most wins by the school since 2007-08 when they went 20-10, it shines a whole new light on Newman’s first year. As an encore last season, the Matadors’ 22-11 and 14-6 Big West records were the most wins since the turn of the century when they went 22-10 and the 14 conference wins was a mark not seen in the school’s history at the Division I level, a mark that propelled them to the NIT. With Newman at the helm, things are certainly pointing north in Northridge.

Cal Poly-Mike DeGeorge

From the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, the Cal Poly Mustangs were one of the most successful teams at the Division II level. Under the direction of Ernie Wheeler, the Mustangs won 254 games from 1972-1986 with six trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Since then, consistent success has been difficult to attain for the Mustangs. They haven’t won 20 games in a single season since Wheeler’s last year in 1986, and a Cinderella run in the 2014 Big West tournament with a 14-20 record led to their only NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I school. Enter Mike DeGeorge last season, to hopefully turn things around. If the Mustangs were looking for a coach who knows how to win, look no further than DeGeorge, who, prior to taking the job at Cal Poly, spent six seasons at Colorado Mesa. In those six seasons, he compiled a record of 141-43 with four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament thanks to four consecutive top-2 finishes in conference with a record of 75-10 against conference foes in those four years.

Even though DeGeorge went just 16-19 with an 8-12 Big West record in his first year, the school has to be thrilled because both of those win totals were the best since Joe Callero led the team to a CIT appearance in 2012-13.