Just like last Saturday, I didn't get to see today's game. And just like last Saturday, the Hogs lost a close one on the road.

I was optimistic about their chances heading into the game. Oh well - that elusive-but-needed-for-the-NCAA road win or two will have to come from some place else.

To those of you that got to see the game, what was your take?

College Football in February comes in the form of National Signing Day, and yesterday brought the Hogs twenty-three signatures from young men who want to be Razorbacks. I give them all a big "Woo Pig Sooie" welcome. Before going into further details about them, I would like to say that if I were a highly touted wide receiver from Arkansas and had a chance to play for the Razorbacks, even though I had offers from Missouri, Texas, and OU, I would have gone with the team I grew up supporting, even though it might not be the best team on the block. That's what I would imagine I would do, so I can understand the home state pull. And if Missouri over there in the East can use DGB to knock-off an SEC West team, all the better for the Hogs. It isn't like we lost him to LSU, Auburn, or Alabama. But enough with the one that got away, let's look at those recruits who smiled back.

RANKINGS: What did the national people think of the class? Rivals puts the class at 31. Scout has them at 21. 247 has them at 27. We didn't make ESPN's top 25. If you average all of that out, Arkansas's 2012 class was ahead of only Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Kentucky.

STARS: In terms of stars, according to Rivals, the Hogs picked up 0 - 5 stars, 2 - 4 stars, 20 - 3 stars, and 1 - 2 star recruit.

GEOGRAPHY: Arkansas got most of its recruits from Texas, with six players. Arkansas gave the team five players. Three were snatched from OU/OSU country in Oklahoma. The state that gave us Dylan Breeding, Alabama, gave us two additional players this year. Tennessee also contributed two. Then Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey all contributed one each. That equals eleven different states.

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Dorial Green-Beckham announced his decision just a short while ago. Oh well - it would have been great to see him in Razorback red, but we wish him the best of luck.

We hope to have more thoughts later but in the meantime, let us know your reaction.

Before tonight's victory over Vanderbilt, ESPN analyst and former Razorback walk-on Jimmy Dykes tweeted the following:

Arkansas with a shot to pick up 3rd top 40 RPI win tonite vs Vandy. Are they playing their way into NCAA's...

In my highly unbiased opinion, yes, yes they are. Most likely, they will need to go undefeated at home (they're 16-0 in Bud after tonight's win), snag a road win or two, and win an SEC Tournament game to get a ticket to the dance (I can't believe I just typed that - I've always hated that phrase) but all of those things are real possibilities.

I didn't think an NCAA bid likely before the season, when Marshawn Powell was still healthy. That Arkansas is having this kind of season without him is impressive and fun as hell to watch.

As for tonight's contest, it was another big game for Rickey Scott, who led the team with 18 points and also grabbed five rebounds. The gritty Julysses Nobles added 17 points The evening even brought the first game appearance of backup Razorback quarterback Brandon Mitchell.

Before we all go back to obsessing about the soon-to-be-announced college choice of a certain Springfield, Mo., wide receiver, chime in with your thoughts about tonight's game and the Hogs' NCAA chances.

WPS!

Tonight the Hogs play on ESPN (9 PM Eastern) Vanderbilt in Bud Walton Arena to what I expect will be a loud and jumping crowd. Note to crowd, you all need to have your "We Want You DGB!" signs made and ready for tonight, haha. Vanderbilt brings a 2-0 road record to Fayetteville. The only other team to go undefeated on the road in the SEC is No. 1 Kentucky. Arkansas has not lost a conference game at home, but Vanderbilt is one of the rare conference teams to have a home loss. And that brings us to today's trivia question, a rare basketball trivia question from me. After 39 conference games as of yesterday, just how hard to win on the road in the SEC this year do you think it is? The answer is in the comment section.

He didn't play in many games or score many points, but few players have captured the hearts of Razorback fans like Eugene Nash did. During his time as a walk-on for Eddie Sutton's squads of the late 70s and early 80s, the waning moments of blowout wins featured a soundtrack of booming crowd chants of "Eu-GENE! Eu-GENE!" When Sutton would put Nash in, the crowd would go nuts. His thunderous dunk against Southwest Missouri State (pictured above) is a moment that will never be forgotten by those who saw it; the feat so thrilled fans that someone began producing "Eugene, Eugene, The Dunking Machine" t-shirts.

In this edition of the Hog Call Podcast, we talk with Eugene about his Razorback career. Site historians may recall that we published a two-part Q&A with Nash four years ago (here's part 1 and part 2) but we thought you'd enjoy a chance to hear his tale in his voice.

During the course of the show, Eugene discusses how he became a walk-on, which Razorback did a dead-on impersonation of Coach Sutton, the most exciting victory of his Arkansas career and which Barry Manilow song makes him think about his stint as a Hog. Many thanks to Eugene for his time.

To hear all of these entertaining yarns and more, hit the play button on the widget below (note: the audio is a little choppy in parts. We apologize.). Download the episode and subscribe to the podcast by visiting TalkShoe or iTunes.

I'm visiting family in Charlotte today and, except for a few peeks at the Yahoo! in-game box score, I didn't follow the game. Looks like a close one. I'm very interested to hear from those who saw it. I think the Hogs are really close to breaking through on the road.

And one other note before I rejoin the family reunion: Rickey Scott and Mardracus Wade are good. With the hoopla surrounding this year's freshman class, it was easy to forget about those two, but they have both improved by leaps and bounds. Looks like they both had good afternoons. They will be important parts of this team's success in the games and seasons ahead.