Hogs' Home Gauntlet of Top 10 Teams Huge Advantage for Pittman

History shows Razorback Stadium perfect place to face teams most likely crush Hogs anyway

The Arkansas Razorbacks student section during the game against the UAB Blazers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Arkansas won 37-27. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Typically, fans like to see tough games at home so their team has a chance to come away with a memorable big win and feel like their energy played a major role.

It's happened over and over on the basketball court at Arkansas the past several seasons as the Hogs have found a way to knock off multiple No. 1 teams along with other highly rated foes such as
Auburn, Tennessee, Duke and Kentucky in Bud Walton Arena. What resulted were memorable scenes that created momentum that carried into the NCAA Tournament where more No. 1 teams, Gonzaga and Kansas, fell also.

Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams celebrates knocking off No. 1 Auburn in Bud Walton Arena. /

However, for every yin there is a yang and nothing is more yang to the basketball team's success in Fayetteville than the football team. Arkansas is 7-7 at home since 2022 with most of those wins coming from bites of non-conference cupcakes.

Arkansas is 2-5 in SEC games over that span and a couple of cupcakes bit back in the form of BYU and Liberty, not to mention the scares put into the Hogs by Bobby Petrino's Missouri State team and last week's win over a UAB team that had been throttled by Louisiana-Monroe the week before.

Even lowly Mississippi State and Auburn were supposed to be sure wins in Razorback Stadium last season, yet the Hogs made the Bulldogs look like they were running out the '85 Chicago Bears defense and a struggling Auburn team suddenly looked like the 1990s Steve Spurrier led Florida Gators.

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson (1) is tackled by Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive tackle Nathan Pickering (22) during the second quarter at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

While many bemoaned the Hogs playing four of the first five games away from Razorback Stadium, those who have been paying attention were aware it gave Arkansas its best shot from a preseason perspective in a while to start 4-1. Had the Hogs managed to avoid just one of the many mistakes in that game, there's a good chance it would have come to fruition with Arkansas legitimately ranked for the first time in a while.

Over the past six games in Fayetteville, the average score is 31-23 in favor of the visitors despite a little padding on the Razorbacks' end against Florida International and UAB. Arkansas has simply looked listless most of the time in home games.

That's why it's better for the Hogs that No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 16 LSU are in Fayetteville. Every one of those games outside of LSU are borderline guaranteed losses, so why not play those in the least positive environment for Arkansas football success — at home.

There's just something about being on the road that makes Sam Pittman a much better coach. The Razorbacks dominated No. 14 Oklahoma State on the road a couple of weeks ago.

Last year, a terrible Arkansas team took No. 12 LSU to the wire in Baton Rouge in their house and did the same in back-to-back weeks against No. 9 Ole Miss and eventual playoff team, Alabama. The Hogs' lone SEC win came against Florida in The Swamp.

That's why a slate of Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Missouri on the road presents opportunities for Arkansas that likely wouldn't be available if those games were at home. Pittman's best bet is to get his team up in Auburn, Starkville and Arlington and sneak away with a win against Louisiana Tech at home.

That puts the Hogs at 6-6 and into a bowl game that will mean way more to Arkansas than whatever team fell to them after a disappointing season. Plus, one things Pittman has shown is he can get his team to care about meaningless bowl games in yet another data point of the Razorbacks more focused away from home,

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