All Hogs

SEC can add genuine heat to Hogs' annual schedule with this unexpected permanent opponent

Overlooking option that could burst into big emotional rival would be mistake
Andy Hodges|
Arkansas Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek prior to the game against the Pine Bluff Golden Lions at War Memorial Stadium.
Arkansas Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek prior to the game against the Pine Bluff Golden Lions at War Memorial Stadium. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — This shouldn't be that hard of a decision to blend the past and future for Arkansas' three permanent opponents in football.

All it takes is a map and common sense, but that last item may remove the SEC from the process. There is little proof they use any logic.

The SEC has proven quite capable of ignoring the obvious and going to a nine-game conference football schedule now gives them the chance.

Everybody pretty much agrees Texas is going to be one of the three permanent rivals for Arkansas, but opinions vary wildly on the others. It's tilting heavily toward a Missouri game everybody has been trying to turn into a rivalry that hasn't really caught on. Others think it should stay with Ole Miss.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is a matchup waiting to become a huge rivalry. Northwest Arkansas borders the northeast corner of the Sooner state where fans living next door to each other have thrown Woo Pig Sooiee and Boomers back and forth for decades.

The football games have been few, but some of them memorable, starting with the Orange Bowl in 1977 when the Hogs upset Barry Switzer's plans for another national title.

It's that third opponent that's up for grabs. Some national sites are predicting Texas A&M, but the Aggies aren't even the old Southwest Conference opponent that really fires everybody up. That's always the Longhorns.

For other sports, the league had decided a year ago the Hogs' permanent opponents would be Texas, Missouri and Ole Miss. That may or may not be the trio going forward in football. There's a lot of gossip, though.

Missouri shouldn't be considered a rival because the Arkansas administration makes public efforts to force the idea both schools care about the other. Nobody, from athletics director Hunter Yurachek on down, appears to even believe it's something the majority of fans care about.

Play Oklahoma every year and within five years it will be a huge deal. Norman, Okla. is an hour and 15 minutes closer than Columbia, Missouri. The Sooners also have better facilities with a new basketball center on the boards to replace the barn they play in now.

This is a no-brainer. Razorback fans would embrace playing the Longhorns, Ole Miss and the Sooners every single year. But it would be Oklahoma they would be yelling about over backyard fences at times for Hog fans.

The SEC’s revised schedule, announced Thursday, will feature nine conference games for each school, up from the previous eight. Commissioner Greg Sankey said the new structure is designed to preserve the league’s most storied rivalries while creating a fair rotation among all teams.

Arkansas last played Texas as a conference opponent in 1991, prior to joining the SEC. The Razorbacks and Longhorns will now meet every year, rekindling a series that dates back to 1894. The annual game with Missouri, dubbed the “Battle Line Rivalry,” has been a fixture since the Tigers joined the SEC.

There's a reason for this madness. Oklahoma is the closest SEC rival to the Hogs and the same thing for the Sooners, A lot of their fans are closer to Fayettteville than Norman.

Some people think Missouri should be that third opponent, replacing Ole Miss, but not thinking it through. It's just one hour farther from Fayetteville, but once you go south through the tunnel you're closer to Oxfor, Miss., when you reach Interstate 40.

The majority of the population in Arkansas lives south of the tunnel in Northwest Arkansas connecting to I-40 that then takes you to Memphis, just north of Oxford.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman said his team is prepared for the increased difficulty of the schedule.

“I don’t think you could have an easy schedule in the SEC,” Pittman said at SEC Media Days. “If you’re playing in this league, you’re already playing the best. Adding a ninth conference game just means we’ll have to be that much sharper every week.”

The Razorbacks’ 2025 schedule is already ranked among the toughest in the nation, and the expanded format promises little relief.

Arkansas will continue to play three nonconference games, but with the new SEC mandate, one must be against a program from the Power Four leagues like the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, or another SEC team.

Under the new format, each SEC team will also play six rotating opponents. This guarantees every program will meet each other home and away at least once every four years, ensuring a balanced schedule throughout the conference.

The SEC’s move to a nine-game schedule comes as the College Football Playoff expands its evaluation criteria, putting greater emphasis on strength of schedule.

“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” Sankey said in a statement.

Razorback fans are embracing the tradition

Arkansas will announce updates to its nonconference opponents and future schedules as the new SEC format takes effect. The Razorbacks will open 2026 with a nonconference schedule that will be adjusted to accommodate the new nine-game league model.

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Andy Hodges
ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.

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