Arkansas Earns Preseason No. 1 Ranking, Just Not The One Every Team Wants

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There's only enough room for one team at the pinnacle of college sports.

But when it comes to the No. 1 ranking Arkansas football sits, there's hardly a time when it's actually meant something positive. Once again, for what seems like the 15th preseason in a row, the Razorbacks hold college football's top spot when it comes to having the toughest schedule.

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The ESPN Football Power Index ratings were released Thursday with Arkansas coming in at No. 47 nationally, but still ranked ahead of fellow SEC cellar dweller Mississippi State. However, Arkansas was told it will play an extremely tough schedule under first-year coach Ryan Silverfield.

With the draw comes some of the toughest teams in the country, including a home dates against SEC teams like Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Vanderbilt and LSU while going on the road to face Texas A&M, Auburn, and Texas.

Don't forget about the Razorbacks' Week Two trek out west to Utah, the team predicted by Big 12 media to finish No. 3 in the now wide open conference title race. With a predicted record of what rounds out at 4-8 overall, there's still room to turn this No. 1 ranking into a positive.

Arkansas isn't alone at the top though, as nine of the top 10 teams in the FPI rankings reside in the SEC. There are games that Arkansas can boost its resume with key swing games against Utah, South Carolina, Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield points during the spring game at Razorback Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

1. Arkansas
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Kentucky
5. Ole Miss
6. Mississippi State
7. Florida
8. Ohio State
9. Texas A&M
10. South Carolina

Silverfield has repeatedly preached that Arkansas can't and will not measure itself by preseason expectations. Threre's not a single team in the country outside of national title contenders like Ohio State, Texas, Indiana and Oregon that probably know exactly where they stand.

He's certainly not going to allow ESPN's projections reinforce why the Razorbacks can't win reach the six or seven win mark. What he can do is use it as motivation to prove his team right against the nation's toughest schedule, including an opportunity to reach a bowl game which ultimately carries far more weight than the same record would elsewhere.

Why is that? Because there aren't many national or regional pundits expecting the Razorbacks to do a whole lot following a two-win season.

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Braylen Russell (0) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Arkansas State Red Wolves at War Memorial Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Not all 2-10 seasons are created equally either because the 2025 season saw Arkansas lose six games by one score mostly due to a lack of ball security, missed assignments and blown defensive coverages.

"[Our players] are hungry," Silverfield said. "Those guys who came back from last year, the newcomers, the staff, everybody's hungry. We want kind of avoid all the outside noise, there's not a prove everybody else wrong, let's just go prove ourselves right, like what we're capable of doing.

In Year One, the Razorbacks won't have the easiest path to success from an analytical standpoint. But if they somehow exceed preseason expectations, they'll surely have earned every bit of it.

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