With freshman Fortson leading way, Razorbacks must be taken seriously

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The final buzzer sounded, the place grew louder, John Pelphrey and Jeff Capel shook hands, and then out of the corner of my eye, I saw it -- Stefan Welsh at midcourt, face down on the hardwood kissing a Razorback.

"I can't explain the kiss," Razorback freshman Rotnei Clarke said.

Arkansas big man Michael Washington also makes an impression with 24 points and 11 rebounds. (AP)

Also unexplainable: Arkansas 96, No. 4 Oklahoma 88.

Pig Sooie, indeed.

Roughly 24 hours after fourth-ranked Connecticut lost to 11th-ranked Georgetown, ninth-ranked Purdue lost to unranked Illinois and fourth-ranked Oklahoma lost to unranked Arkansas, which means the college basketball landscape is as unstable as our economy. The only thing we can safely count on is North Carolina kicking the poo out of people. But beyond that, things are unpredictable and chaotic and a helluva lot of fun to watch.

"North Carolina has separated itself," Capel said. "But after that, I think you can take 30 or 40 teams and mix them up, and it doesn't really matter."

I fundamentally agree.

And one more thing: Make sure Arkansas is one of those 30 or 40!

Which is not to suggest these Hogs won't have problems, because they will. They are tiny in the backcourt, more inexperienced than Sarah Palin's grandson and destined to hit some bumps in the road, like the bump they hit last month at Missouri State. That's what happens when you have five new starters, and it's bound to happen again. But 10-1 is 10-1, and 10-1 with a victory against Oklahoma is pretty darn impressive.

So let's forget about all those preseason predictions that had Arkansas finishing sixth in the SEC West, because though I'm not ready to hand the Hogs a division title just yet, I'm pretty sure they aren't finishing sixth.

Why?

For three reasons, actually:

1. Auburn and Mississippi State aren't very good.

2. Ole Miss is more banged up than Tom Brady and Brett Favre combined.

3. No team with Courtney Fortson in charge is finishing last in a division.

Swear to God, I love that kid. Might be my favorite freshman in the country after seeing him up close. And so if you're one of the Arkansas fans who e-mailed after the game to ask if I remain skeptical of Fortson, the answer is a resounding "No." He's 71 inches of smiles and hair and, well, I'll just let Willie Warren tell you about the Alabama native who is averaging 15.5 points, 7.1 assists and 5.5 rebounds through 11 games.

"He gets into the lane and makes things happen," said Warren, the OU freshman who scored 35 points and was a big reason why the Sooners cut a 25-point deficit to four late in the second half before faltering. "He does what good point guards do."

And your thoughts, Coach Capel?

"There's no question who the leader of their team is, and I think that speaks volumes for a freshman to be able to grab a team by the horns like he has, and not just with his play, but with his heart," Capel said. "Everything you want a point guard to do, he does. He's instructing guys. He's encouraging guys. He's getting on guys. He understands pace. He's just tremendous."

How tremendous?

Consider that less than three weeks after recording the Hogs' first triple-double in 25 years, Fortson damn near messed around and notched another against OU. He finished with 12 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in 39 minutes, meaning this 5-11, 180-pound joy to watch outrebounded everybody on OU's roster not named Blake Griffin -- who, by the way, produced 21 points and 13 rebounds in what amounted to a so-so effort for the likely top pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

And that's all you need to know about what happened here Tuesday night -- that Griffin was worth only a by-the-way comment because the real story was the further development of Fortson, an Oklahoma kid (Clarke) getting 15 points against Oklahoma, a former football star (Marcus Monk) recording 12 points and six rebounds in only his third game, Arkansas notching the upset of the week in front of 19,064 fans, and a kinesiology major (Welsh) kissing a Razorback when it was all over and done.