It's been 10 years since Rod Winkler squared up with Aaron Harrison at Arkansas

Tomorrow, Kentucky faces Arkansas in a must-win game at Bud Walton Arena. The No. 6 Cats are likely to be favored against the struggling Razorbacks, who are 1-5 so far in conference play, but history provides a cautionary tale.

Ten years ago, another ranked Kentucky team went to Fayetteville to face another unranked Arkansas squad desperate for a win. Thanks to Michael Qualls’ game-winning dunk, the Razorbacks got it, beating the No. 13 Cats in overtime 87-85. Seconds after, an Arkansas fan squared up with Aaron Harrison, a moment immortalized by Herald-Leader photographer Mark Cornelison.

Aaron Harrison was confronted by an Arkansas fan after last nights game and the Lexington Herald caught a pic of it. pic.twitter.com/A66sOCRuoI

— Big Blue Express (@bigbluexpress) January 15, 2014

Aaron Harrison and Arkansas fan have confrontation after game. pic.twitter.com/Bx1jUyrxuR

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) January 15, 2014

It didn’t take Kentucky fans long to identify that fan as Rod Winkler. The morning after the game, Matt Jones even got Winkler to call into the radio show to talk about the interaction. The interview is still one we quote to this day. When asked if he really wanted to go up against the much-bigger Harrison, Winkler said, “I don’t never look at nobody and say I don’t want a part of anything.” Also, “he a man like you a man and I’m a man like he a man.”

Winkler kept insisting he didn’t do or say anything to provoke Harrison (“Naaaah, you got it all wrong!”) but the pictures tell another story. Sadly, that podcast seems to be lost to the world, as are Drew Franklin’s incredible photoshops of Rod Winkler vs. the World. (If, by some miracle, you have them saved to your computer or phone, please send them our way.) Hopefully, a new generation of Arkansas fans won’t get the chance to recreate it tomorrow.

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Arkansas made a documentary about the 2014 win

I’ll be honest, if not for Winkler’s 15 seconds of fame, I might have forgotten about that game. Not the Razorbacks. The 10th anniversary is near the top of Arkansas’ game notes for tomorrow and the program’s video team even made a documentary about it entitled “Walk on Air.” That’s Indiana Basketball behavior right there.

You may remember that after Qualls’ dunk, Aaron Harrison launched the ball into play with 0.2 seconds left. The pass went so high it got stuck in Arkansas’ scoreboard. In the documentary, Qualls said he wants the game ball, which eventually went to former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson when the Razorbacks took the old scoreboard down to replace it with a new video board.

Many events happened on that thrilling night in 2014, but @Mr_WALKONAIR still has his mind set on that game ball

🎥 Walk on Air is now streaming on Hogs+ pic.twitter.com/z5fEx7Z8Vz

— Hogs Plus (@HogsPlus) January 26, 2024

Maybe Qualls should send Rod Winkler to get the ball back from Anderson.

UPDATE: Shoutout to @OkayWhatNo on Twitter for unearthing the “Rod Winkler vs. the World” photoshops!