Portal Activity This Weekend Will Say a Lot About How Pittman Intends to Approach Bowl Game

Arkansas Razorback coach has difficult decision to make

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 25, 2022 10:20 AM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Whether the Razorbacks pull out a win today in Columbia against the Missouri Tigers, Arkansas coach Sam Pittman has a difficult decision to make.

The Razorbacks are in a bowl game. What is left to be determined is which bowl, who Arkansas will play, and which players Pittman is going to ride with when the time comes.

This season, Arkansas has leaned more toward seniors than most fans may realize. After today, maybe one, at most two seniors will leave the team to prepare for the upcoming NFL draft.

That still leaves the majority of the starters available to play in the bowl game. That's a blessing if Pittman's view of getting into a bowl game is a chance to notch another win and give the seniors one last moment on the field together.

However, if he decides this year that a bowl game is all about getting an early jump on next season and seeing what he has in the crop of players expected to carry the load next year, then having so many seniors is more of an awkward moment waiting to happen.

For most fans, the traditional approach of going all in on a win and spending those final moments with the seniors is not only the preferred option, it's the only one that makes sense. It's just how they are wired.

Trey Knox-Cincinnati — (Ted McClenning / allHOGS Images)

But they aren't in charge of roster management for the Razorbacks.

Pittman has two compelling reasons to focus on the future during this bowl season.

1. Because of how the schedule has played out, there is a long list of players Arkansas fans either didn't know were on the roster or simply forgot. There has been little to no opportunity to get some of the younger players on the field to see how they handle themselves when the lights are on and that's something this staff needs to see.

2. Numerous players whom Pittman values have had to sit on the sideline all year wondering when their time will come. With the portal opening next week, Pittman may need to promise them a chance to play in the bowl game to keep them around.

Right about now you might be thinking what so many Razorback fans post on social media the second a recruit decides another school is the better place to prepare for his future or when a player opts to enter the portal for a situation that is a better fit – "If he doesn't want to be here, then we don't want him."

However, it's not that simple. A lot of players who go into the portal want to be Razorbacks.

Unfortunately for them, in their mind, being a Razorback means actually getting on the field. Standing on the sidelines all year just makes them a Razorback fan with great seats.

The future of this team has had great seats all season and it's not unreasonable to believe some of them are frustrated and pondering a portal exit. That leaves Pittman with the conundrum of doing what naturally make sense to increase his odds of putting an eight in the win column to take a little bit of the sting out of an up and down season or decrease the odds of coming away with a win now in exchange for increasing the chance of wins next fall.

Fans will probably have an idea by next Monday which direction Pittman has decided. If the portal begins to fill up quickly with Razorbacks, Arkansas is going to stand by its seniors and hope the portal gives as well as it takes.

If not, expect a youth movement in whichever bowl the Razorbacks play.