Arkansas Football Just Fell off the Island of Relevancy in Its Own State

With basketball and deer season starting up this week, there will be little room for fans to work in time for a team expected to lose badly in its next two games

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 6, 2022 9:54 AM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the first time since 2018, the football team is irrelevant.

While this team will finish with a better record than two of the teams during that stretch, the indifference that is about to set in projects to exceed any of those years.

Some may argue the final year of Chad Morris could be deemed less relevant than the one currently unfolding, but the interest in seeing whether Chad Morris would be fired in the second half of the season and whether Barry Lunny, Jr. was the man in the final couple of weeks kept the team relevant much in the way Auburn stayed relevant this year.

That year was also helped by an Arkansas basketball team having low expectations and a new coach few knew much about in Nevada's Eric Musselman.

The timing of a loss like this couldn't be worse for avoiding fan apathy. Having the Razorbacks look so lost and uninterested in a Homecoming upset loss just hours before the next opponent, LSU, pulled the upset of the year against Alabama was bad enough.

Further pushing the team out of sight, out of mind is such a loss taking place 49 hours before the most anticipated basketball season in nearly 30 years. Musselman's team will have played twice before Pittman's team gets back on the field for what most anticipate will be a blowout.

It also doesn't help that the biggest sport in Arkansas starts this coming Saturday – deer season. With an 11 a.m. start, much of the state will miss the game because they're either cleaning and prepping a kill or they're still on the stand.

There's nothing to justify giving up limited hunting time to watch Arkansas play LSU.

Same for the Ole Miss game.

It will be too late for ESPN to finally give Arkansas a night game. That time has passed.

Not only will fans be officially out on this team, but it's the second weekend of deer season so the woods will be full and all talk will be centered around the upcoming Maui Invitational.

Those who aren't tied up that evening with hunting related activities will need to make up lost family time, which likely means a trip to the theaters to catch one of the most anticipated Marvel movies in a long time.

This creates a worst case scenario for recruiting.

Potential Razorbacks just watched the Hogs lose in front of a sparse crowd in as bad of a way possible. To stack on two more losses in front of a semi-empty stadium with recruits present will be devastating.

The only game that might draw a little fan interest will be the Missouri game, but it will be passing at best.

It will be like when Gladiator or a Harry Potter movie comes on. If fans stumble upon it while flipping channels or happen to have some serious holiday down time with nothing better to do, they'll turn it on for background noise and doses of interest when they stop down on the couch for a rest from whatever they were doing.

As much as Sam Pittman's first two seasons closed on highs, this one will close on disinterest. That's a place no coach ever wants to be.

The good news for Pittman is next year's schedule is much more sensible and is organized in such a way as to avoid apathy by fans. He will have to work hard to keep this season from killing recruiting, but there is a path back into the spotlight.

There's just not one this year.