Pittman's Toughest Enemy Won't Be Wearing Uniforms

Arkansas will need surprise year to overcome it

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman during a loss to Mississippi State on Oct. 21, 2023, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Michael Morrison-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas football season is less than a week away and it's honestly hard to tell.

Sam Pittman has tried to do all he can as a head coach to avoid it, but fan apathy is high. It doesn't require a deep dive into media numbers to figure this out.

It's obvious at the surface level. A story saying John Calipari sneezed and then wiped his nose with a high quality Kleenex has the potential to draw record-breaking numbers as Razorback fans have fallen over themselves to read anything basketball.

However, it takes 10 football stories to draw the numbers of a single basketball story even in the stifling heat of August. It hasn't mattered what Sam Pittman has done or how much optimism has slowly built.

The good news for Pittman is if things head south on his team come October, Hog fans are going to be so wrapped up in basketball, very few will notice. They'll just check back a day or two after that Thanksgiving Day showdown against Illinois to see if Pittman still has a job before returning back to full basketball mode.

It's going to take something big for this staff to get modest interest from the majority of fans, much less a true rabid loss of mind over the Hogs. There are tons of seats still available for the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

That's despite tickets going as low as $26 on the second-hand market and seats on the 50 going for as little as $56. These secondhand guys must be losing money like crazy on this.

Arkansas only has one game in Razorback Stadium between now and October. That's pretty much the Hogs' own fault though by giving up premium fan buy-in to play games in Little Rock and Arlington.

Yes, the game at AT&T Stadium is technically an away game this year, but that just adds to the point. Pittman needed that other home game to be on campus to get some sort of positive momentum going with the local crowd, especially as bad as the Razorbacks played in Fayetteville last year.

If he finally gets home following a game against UAPB that will be uninspiring no matter the outcome, and a pair of losses to Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, apathy will have fully set in for the year. Pittman will be trying to get his players back on track in a half-empty stadium.

Arkansas needs four wins by the time the Hogs finally return to Fayetteville to face Tennessee and possibly seven when Texas comes to town to avoid getting swept away by the hurricane that is Arkansas basketball. That's a tall order, but so is overcoming this much apathy.

Literally no one other than the coaches know enough about this team to know if that is possible. There's just too much turnover and too little access for anyone on the outside to feel good about making a definitive declaration about the Razorbacks.

Team chemistry and the idea the offensive line appears willing to block for Taylen Green means Arkansas should be better. Petrino is certainly an upgrade and he seems to get a long with his assistants, so that's a step forward also.

However, it will be October before anyone knows if that step is big enough. If it's not. Arkansas fans are going to take a step of their own.

Right off the gridiron and onto the hard court, leaving behind apathy for true blind devotion in the name of basketball and all things John Calipari.

HOGS FEED:

• What did Vols' Rick Barns, players have to say about Aidoo leaving to join Calipari at Arkansas?

• Razorbacks add another neutral site game to loaded non-conference schedule

• Freshman linebacker expected to play role for Hogs defense

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