Voice of The Razorbacks Isn't Happy Hogs Were Picked to Finish Last By Wide Margin

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas football wasn't just picked to finish last in the SEC this season — they received 205 fewer points on the SEC media preseason poll than 15th-place Mississippi State.

Coming off a 2-10 season in 2025 and with first-year head coach Ryan Silverfield now at the helm, nobody seems to have much confidence in the Hogs, despite Silverfield's insistence that last season will have no bearing on this one.

Chuck Barrett voiced his displeasure with the poll on Monday's edition of "The Chuck and Bo Show."

"Here's the part about Arkansas that I'm just not understanding yet," Barrett said. "The wide margin part, Arkansas finishing so far behind Mississippi State and Kentucky. What makes Mississippi State so much better than Arkansas? What makes first-year coach Will Stein and Kentucky a better team than the Razorbacks?"

Did Arkansas deserve to be picked last in the SEC? 🤔🐗 pic.twitter.com/UiJbc9q1pg
— The Chuck & Bo Show (@chuckandboshow) July 27, 2026

It wasn't necessarily a surprise that Arkansas was picked 16th out of 16 SEC teams, but it was surprising to see both the Bulldogs and the Wildcats so far ahead. Mississippi State went 2-10 in 2024 and 5-8 in 2025 under head coach Jeff Lebby, with their lone SEC win in those two seasons coming over a 2-6 Arkansas squad in Fayetteville last fall.

The Bulldogs and Razorbacks do not play each other this year, but it's hard to see MSU being that much better than Arkansas, if it is at all this season.

Kentucky went 4-8 in 2024 and 5-7 in 2025 with only three combined SEC wins, which led to the long overdue firing of head coach Mark Stoops. Like Mississippi State, it's hard to see Kentucky being leagues ahead of Arkansas as it appeared to be on the ballots of SEC voters, if Stein and UK end up being better than UA at all.

Stein and Kentucky at least have the excuse of also being a new combination that, like Silverfield and Arkansas, deserves the benefit of the doubt.

It's hard to say that Mississippi State, entering Lebby's third season, deserved to be placed so far above Arkansas in regard to votes when its only SEC victory in two years came over an Arkansas team that was limping to the end of the 2025 season under interim head coach Bobby Petrino.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"You look at the first-year coaches [in the SEC], you look at the guys that Silverfield's been compared to, Sumrall at Florida, picked ninth in the league," Barrett said. "Golesh, picked 12th in the league. Stein, picked 14th in the league. And then Arkansas and Silverfield picked last in the league."

Barrett's frustration isn't unwarranted, but the best way for Silverfield and Arkansas to ensure they're not in a similar position on next year's preseason ballot is to go win a few games in 2026 and prove the most vocal of doubters wrong.

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