Razorbacks Tailor-Made for Playoff Scheduling Conundrum

NCAA plans pair of CFP games against NFL, needs to avoid losing viewers

Arkansas Razorbacks defensive lineman Cameron Ball (5) celebrates after a tackle in the first quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. / Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Let's start this off with a clear definitive statement: Arkansas is not going to the college football playoffs this season.

That being said, it would be the perfect year for a Houston Nutt first-year style miracle run out of nowhere as this is the one year where the Hogs are a perfect fit. College football is still trying to get its bearings on how to best carry on a Division I playoff series, so scheduling is a little rough around the edges.

This whole new era officially begins the weekend before Christmas with the lowest ranked eight teams battling to find four viable candidates to face the four best teams in the country. A night game will kick things off on Friday, Dec. 20 on either ABC or ESPN, followed by a pair of afternoon games the next day on TNT, and capped by another night game on ABC or ESPN.

The issue the schedulers are facing is a pair of NFL games that will take place opposite those two TNT day games. Houston and Kansas City play early in the afternoon, followed by Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Arkansas is one of a handful of perfect teams to fill either of those time slots, especially the late afternoon position. That's because it's one of the few Power Four programs in a state without an NFL franchise or strong loyalties to a particular NFL team.

Growing up in Southeast Arkansas, watching NFL games was something only done if there were no college sports on and everyone was too tired for a pick-up game of basketball or football outside. Even then, it was done so with mild disinterest.

People had their loyalties, although they were always subject to change. I kept up with the Bills during the Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas days and then half-heartedly followed the Patriots before they were good. Then there was light attention paid to the Dallas Cowboys because an Arkansas guy had just bought the team and that Troy Aikman kid who had just beaten Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl was the new quarterback.

Across the street from me was a family of New Orleans Saints fans with extended family down in Louisiana, although I am not sure any of them could have told me who the quarterback was at the time. Next to them was a life-long Bears fan who moved in from Missouri, and in the house next to us was a young man who loved the Miami Dolphins with a stepfather who was a die-hard Packers fans.

Needless to say, Arkansas wasn't going to lose a lot of viewers if the NFL popped on one day opposite them. At least not from the Razorbacks' side of the equation.

Sure, there are pockets of Cowboys fans spread around the state and a solid sect of Chiefs fans tucked away in the Northwest corner, but if it comes down to an Arkansas appearance in the first ever weekend of expanded college playoffs or a regular season NFL game, it will be no contest. Hogs fans are locking in.

The playoffs are going to have a few non-blue bloods. Not every game can feature a big box store college football brand, although it won't be from a lack of trying.

Arkansas is a lot like West Virginia. The fans are passionate, but unless there's some upset brewing, fans outside either school plus the team they are playing aren't going to drop in for a little casual viewing.

However, the Razorbacks have a much larger fan base than just about all of the programs out there besides the traditional national names. On top of that, they tend to be easily adoptable by other fanbases once they start rolling.

The playoff committee would be fortunate to somehow have Arkansas to drop into that late afternoon game against Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The ratings would be about as high as that time slot could be without sacrificing overall numbers.

The NCAA doesn't want to cram Alabama or Ohio State into that slot. It would be a waste of numbers because there would be lost viewers who would have watched had it been the featured night game.

However, Arkansas vs. Iowa State in Week 1 of the CFP isn't losing ratings to the NFL. The numbers are going to be the same no matter where that game gets placed and the people handling the scheduling need a game like that to put up against the sports' more lucrative cousin.

So, now it's up to Sam Pittman and his Razorbacks to figure out a way to not only position themselves to take on a Top 12 opponent, but also the NFL. And again, that's not going to happen.

However, the NCAA can still dream.

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• Razorbacks' Smith named finalist for Golden Spikes Award

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