There is Way Razorbacks Could Impact Expanded Playoff, One Way or Another

If season plays out as predicted, Arkansas could be facing "November Nightmare" with football schedule this season

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman during spring practice drills in March at the indoor facility in Fayetteville, Ark. / Craven Whitlow-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Nobody — and I mean absolutely nobody — is putting the Arkansas Razorbacks anywhere near the playoff picture this year. That doesn't mean they couldn't be in the mix if everything comes together, but they likely will have a chance to make some things uncomfortable for folks.

Of course, a lot of that's depending on factors out of Sam Pittman's control. For a team without a ton of depth, he can't afford to come into what could turn into a "Nightmare November" if little things like injuries or some other issues come up over the course of the season. Considering three of the five teams they'll play to end the season are already projected into the Top 25 in the preseason, nothing will be easy.

A lot of Razorback fans are waiting on things to return to what younger people think is absolutely normal. If you are under the age of 40, you won't remember many losses to Texas. Considering the good games they've played against Ole Miss that one is assumed by many go in their favor at home. That leaves Missouri, which nobody really wants to admit is a better program right now.

The Hogs will welcome games against Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech in November. Games against the Rebels and Tigers won't be easy, but the one to be concerned over right now is Nov. 19 against the Longhorns. Don't go on history since 2005 and the under-achieving nature.

Texas went to the playoff last year with just three other teams and they thumped Alabama, a team the Razorbacks never managed to figure out how to beat with Nick Saban as the coach. What the Longhorns have done is string together Top 5 recruiting classes for three straight years and they haven't done that since they started putting a number to it.

They have depth better than Arkansas has seen in the last five matchups. This year, though, they will have a motivation they haven't had before and that's what most people consider a realistic expectation to be in the mix for the playoffs and likely one of the higher-ranked teams. Steve Sarkisian has put together a roster than can handle the long and physical grind in the SEC.

This isn't the same unmotivated Longhorns the Hogs have seen most of the times they have played since leaving the Southwest Conference in 1992. This game may have more of a mutual feel of when the two teams played for decades in their traditional mid-October slot and one or the other was playing with national title implications in a lot of those games for the last 32 years they met.

Arkansas could deal a devastating blow to the hopes for that title. Sarkisian has developed that culture thing you hear championship teams talk about and they did come within a touchdown and extra point last year of playing for a national championship.

For a fan base that often enjoys talking about history more than the present in football, they might want to go do some research before assuming Texas will continue the under-achieving they've done for the better part of the last decade. That's only talking about the Longhorns.

We haven't even gotten into what Lane Kiffin is putting together with the Rebels and now that he doesn't have what appeared to be a hurdle too tall to leap with Alabama the last few years, they've positioned themselves well for a 12-team playoff this year. They would have been in there once or twice the last few yars.

Eli Drinkwitz has done the same thing with the Tigers up the road and now they are landing highly-rated recruits out of Arkansas. Missouri is expected to be in that mix again this year and the Razorbacks have only beaten the Tigers just twice since they joined the SEC in 2012.

Which points up the thing about a pair of Big 12 teams coming to the SEC again thisyear with Texas and Oklahoma coming into the league. The last time two teams came into the league from the Big 12 was 2012 when Missouri and Texas A&M came into the league. The Aggies promptly went on a hot streak and started beating the Hogs and the Tigers won the SEC East two years in a row, starting with their second year in a row. Folks in the Arkansas media and fans assumed the Tigers would need a decade just to be competitive.

Adding the Longhorns to the mix won't help the Razorbacks, who may be playing them on a very regular basis, considring the history in that series. The Hogs haven't done anything with the Tigers for a decade and the Rebels have been an occasional game of happiness mixed with some train wrecks.

It's way too early to start making projections. We don't even know who's going to be on the roster for this season completely. Pittman still has several spots to fill. He's also got a schedule with a dangerous start and quite possibly a nightmare coming in November to end things.

HOGS FEED:

• Lack of getting key hits early dig hole too deep for Razorbacks to climb out of in dropping second straight, series to Kentuck

• Taking stock of Razorback recruiting rankings

• Sam Pittman will need to hit another longshot with Razorbacks like he did with Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan

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