Unreasonable Fan Demands for 2025 Show Lack of Understanding of Schedule

Sam PIttman, Arkansas Razorbacks face SEC's most daunting task when full picture revealed

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman voices frustration on the sidelines against the Texas Longhorns at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Ted McClenning-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A lot is being made out of this upcoming season for the Arkansas football team.

The fan base is full of people sitting around tables in public establishments and calling in to radio shows proclaiming Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman had better win eight games or he will need to pack up and head to his lake house permanently.

However, these people either haven't looked at the upcoming schedule or don't understand the numbers behind it. Pittman is in a horror movie where he's facing Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, Pinhead, Chucky and Leatherface all at once with Pennywise the Clown and Ghostface throwing down a quarter to declare they've got next.

Literally half of the upcoming schedule features teams that won 10 or more games last season. In fact, the average among those six was 11.3 wins.

A great schedule used to include maybe two teams that hit double digits. It certainly didn't include six.

On top of that, only two teams, and for the record this does include all non-conference games, had a losing season. Auburn went 5-7 and Mississippi State went 2-10.

That's it. Everyone else was at least 6-6, and 75% of the schedule put up eight wins.

Just look:
Notre Dame 14-2
Texas 13-3
Memphis 11-2
Tennessee 10-3
Ole Miss 10-3
Missouri 10-3
LSU 9-4
Texas A&M 8-5
Arkansas St. 8-5
Alabama A&M 6-6
Auburn 5-7
Mississippi St. 2-10

The Arkansas football schedule includes half of the season-ending Top 4, one of every three teams in the Top 9 and six of the Top 25 and No. 27 in LSU if you wanted to extend the rankings that far.

It should also be noted that the game against an 11-2 Memphis team is on the road in Memphis where the Tigers went a perfect 7-0 before handling West Virginia in the Frisco Bowl. As for Arkansas State, the Red Wolves not only rang up eight wins last year, they went to Ann Arbor and nearly knocked off Michigan.

Not only is Little Rock a far cry from having to hold up in the Big House, it's likely going to be a default home game. War Memorial Stadium hasn't exactly packed in Razorbacks fans lately, so there will be plenty of room for highly motivated Arkansas State fans to take over.

Including that Arkansas State game, there are only five games on the schedule that don't fall under the basically coming off a Top 25 season category. Those five still include trap games against Texas A&M, Auburn and, as mentioned, Arkansas State.

Getting to eight wins means not only going perfect against those teams, but knocking off Memphis, finally beating Eli Drinkwitz and a 10-3 Mizzou team, and an Ole Miss team stacked with former Razorbacks that finished 10-3 and barely missed the playoffs. That's a combined 31-7 and Pittman's supposed to just run right through them because roughly four players are in the second year of the Bobby Petrino offense?

If Pittman finds a way to squeeze another seven wins out of this program, it might be his best coaching job yet. There are no other coaches who are going to do better against this schedule with no proven receivers and one semi-proven running back coming off a year-long layoff because of a major injury.

Arkansas fans often wonder why they live in a world of mediocrity on the football side of things. However, every year begins with Pittman facing the toughest schedule in the SEC.

How the Hogs get abused when it comes to scheduling literally became a point of comedy around the conference, although it should be noted that some of this year's problems are self-inflicted. While the following video also includes what was done to Missouri in the 2020 season, fans would be praising Pittman if he had been handed the schedule the Tigers have robbed the college football world with the last couple of years.

The fact Pittman would have followed back-to-back 2-10 seasons with what mathematically and logically would have been a winning record in 2020 had the Hogs gotten to play a normal schedule, which would have meant four of his five seasons with winning records, speaks volumes about what he has done against unenviable odds.

Remember, the transfer portal and NIL started while he was trying to figure out how to juggle all the responsiblities of being a head coach for the first time. Annually adding in what was perceived as one of the five hardest schedules at the beginning of each season simply piled on.

This season's not going to be any different. Once again the Hogs are essentially starting over after a busy portal season and must make due with what Pittman could afford.

If Arkansas somehow pulls off eight wins, he should be in consideration for SEC Coach of the Year. That's how hard it's going to be.

What eight wins shouldn't be is an expectation. Not under these conditions. Not with that schedule.

HOGS FEED:

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• This Razorback team coming together at best time for Calipari

• Which positions will Razorbacks target during spring portal?

• Former Razorback assaulting Sun Belt record books

• Hogs' team outshines Texas freshman phenom Tre Johnson's bright star

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