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Why College Football's Spring Buzz Has Completely Skipped Razorbacks

The Hogs aren't on college football's spring radar and that invisibility says everything about 15 years of decline.
Andy Hodges|
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield during spring practices.
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield during spring practices. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

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Arkansas Razorbacks

Spring football is the one time of year when hope is equal for every program. It's a clean slate — every team sits at 0-0 and the offseason energy feels fresh.

But when the national college football conversation turns to which programs are carrying the heaviest weight into spring practice for 2026, Arkansas isn't anywhere in it.

Not even close.

That absence isn't a coincidence. It's a symptom.

When a program's spring storylines don't register nationally, it usually means one of two things: the team's so good the outcome isn't in question, or the team's so far from relevance that the conversation skips right over them. For the Hogs, it's the latter — and it's been that way for a long time.

Teams Feeling the Heat

Here are the 10 teams drawing the most spring practice pressure heading into the 2026 college football season, according to Steven Lassan with Yahoo Sports (but it's almost a consensus on these things with the order differently):

  • Alabama
  • Clemson
  • Colorado
  • Florida State
  • LSU
  • Nebraska
  • North Carolina
  • Oregon
  • Texas
  • USC

Look at that list carefully. There's Oregon chasing a national title with quarterback Dante Moore back and 15 returning starters between both sides of the ball.

The Ducks are among college football's favorites to win the national championship and coach Dan Lanning faces new coordinators on both sides of the ball as the program pursues its ceiling.

There's Texas, which finished 10-3 and ranked No. 12 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll last season and is working to get back into the College Football Playoff conversation behind Arch Manning.

There's LSU, which brought in 40 transfers to surround Lane Kiffin with talent as he takes over in Baton Rouge.

There's even Nebraska, which has won seven games in back-to-back seasons under Matt Rhule and is trying to get back into the Top 25.

All of those programs — even the ones dealing with real struggles — are part of a national conversation. Arkansas isn't.

The Long Road Down

This didn't happen overnight.

The Razorbacks' slide away from SEC relevance has been building for well over a decade.

Think back to when Bobby Petrino had Arkansas in the top 10 and competing for SEC West titles — that was 2011.

Since then, the program's cycled through coaches, hopes and portal classes without ever getting back to that level of consistent competition.

Sam Pittman gave Razorbacks fans something to believe in during the 2021 season, when Arkansas finished 9-4 and made a Cotton Bowl appearance. But those highs didn't last.

The program's momentum slipped and never fully recovered. Now the Hogs are in a position where they're not even generating the kind of spring buzz that earns a mention alongside programs under genuine heat.

Consider who's on that pressure list: Florida State is fighting to avoid a third straight losing season, with coach Mike Norvell's job security very much in question.

Colorado dropped from a 9-4 season in 2024 all the way to a 4-8 record in 2025 and Deion Sanders is trying to piece together a roster that works after a massive roster overhaul.

North Carolina went 4-8 under Bill Belichick, with constant drama and an offense that struggled throughout the season.

Those are struggling programs. They're still getting national attention because expectations were high enough to make the fall matter.

Arkansas isn't even at that starting point right now. The Razorbacks don't have the kind of preseason buzz that makes a disappointing finish newsworthy on the national stage.

What the List Tells Us About the SEC

The SEC storylines dominating spring 2026 are Alabama, LSU and Texas. Alabama's got just five starters returning and a quarterback battle between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack that's drawing plenty of attention heading into Kalen DeBoer's critical third season.

Texas is dealing with offensive line concerns that limited the ground game and put too much pressure on Manning last season.

LSU's trying to integrate a roster built around Kiffin's vision in year one.

Those are the SEC programs people are watching. The Razorbacks aren't in that group.

They're not even in the second tier of the conference's spring conversation.

That's what 15 years of inconsistency does to a program. It erases you from the discussion.

It means that when national writers build their lists of teams with something meaningful on the line this spring, the Hogs don't come up — not because things are fine in Fayetteville, but because the expectations are so low that the stakes don't feel urgent to anyone outside of Arkansas.

For programs like Alabama, USC and Clemson, the push to return to the College Football Playoff is what's driving the spring pressure.

For USC, Lincoln Riley is entering his fifth year with zero playoff appearances and no double-digit win seasons since his debut.

That's considered a disappointment. For Arkansas, getting to a bowl game at all would feel like progress.

That gap in expectations isn't just uncomfortable. It's telling.

The Bigger Picture

Clemson went 7-6 last season after carrying preseason playoff expectations and that's treated as a crisis worth a national spotlight this spring.

The Tigers have just three defensive starters returning and a new offensive coordinator in Chad Morris trying to unlock a quarterback competition for the starting role.

A program with Clemson's tradition fighting to get back on track is a compelling story.

Arkansas fighting to get back on track isn't generating that same energy — and it's been that way for a long time.

Nebraska, a program once synonymous with Big Ten power, has won seven games in each of the last two seasons and it's considered progress.

The Cornhuskers haven't gotten back into the Top 25 yet under Rhule, and questions about the offensive backfield and a new defensive coordinator are fueling spring headlines.

Even that program — one that's had its own struggles — is drawing more national attention than Arkansas.

The Razorbacks deserve better than this from themselves.

Their fan base is passionate, Fayetteville's gameday atmosphere is one of the best in the country and the resources are there to compete in the SEC.

But good intentions don't generate Top 25 appearances, and passion in the stands doesn't move needle nationally if the wins aren't following.

Until Arkansas finds a way to consistently compete in the SEC West — and now in an SEC without divisions — the spring conversation is going to keep moving right past them.

Not with hostility or dismissal, but with the quiet indifference that comes when a program stops being a factor.

That's where the Hogs are right now. Invisible in a college football spring that's got plenty to talk about.

And until something changes, that's exactly where they'll stay.

That is going to have to be wins to just make it crystal clear.

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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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