Wednesday, March 19, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A lot has changed since UNLV last visited here.
The University of Arkansas has moved out of appropriately named Barnhill Arena into the 19,200-seat state-of-the art Bud Walton Arena, which is four years old. Nobody is battling to sit atop the polls. Neither team is in the NCAAs.
If Bill Bayno goes for a run today, chances are nobody's going to pull over to the side of the road and ask him for his autograph, as was the case when Jerry Tarkanian's morning constitutional was constantly interrupted by amazed Razorback fans who couldn't believe a coaching legend would actually want to take a walk.
Bayno may be the toast of the town in Las Vegas. But here in the Ozarks, he's just another guy in sweats trying to get into shape.
No presidential candidates are likely to sit in on tonight's NIT quarterfinal game. And if someone from these parts wants to make a run at the White House, he won't have to jockey to get a good seat.
Yes, it's UNLV vs. Arkansas. But make no mistake about it. The scenario is dramatically different than it was Feb. 10, 1991, when the entire nation looked on to watch the battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2.
There are no All-Americans traversing the floor, although there are candidates in UNLV's Keon Clark and Arkansas' Kareem Reid. There won't be 200-plus media credentialed tonight. Just a couple of reporters from Vegas whose papers paid through the nose to get them here and the usual contingent of Razorback writers. In other words, don't look for Sports Illustrated, CNN, USA Today or any of the national college hoops writers. They're in Syracuse, Birmingham or San Jose waiting to see who goes to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
It's safe for Curry Kirkpatrick to be here. Nobody's going to bar him from practice, though Bayno does have a closed-door policy. But he might have made an exception in Curry's case had he known what Tark did prior to the UNLV-Arkansas game, when he ripped the Sports Illustrated wag in front of the national press, then booted him and the rest of the national guys from watching the Rebels' workout.
And it won't be a zoo in the locker room afterward, even if UNLV should win tonight. They won't have to set up Checkpoint Charlie to screen those worthy of entering the inner sanctum.
There will probably be some trash talk, but no one from UNLV will dare tell Boss Hog Nolan Richardson he needs to recruit some men, like Larry Johnson did. Nolan has a good-looking group of kids who battle, scrap and can play. It may not be the "40 minutes of hell" we've come to expect from the Razorbacks, but what hasn't been devalued these days?
Yet, for all the differences between tonight and 1991, one thing remains the same. There will be a lot of people in the stands tonight, wearing red pig snouts and yelling "Whoo Pig Sooie." Kinda makes you feel like you never left.
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