Razorbacks Stuck in Middle of Parity in SEC This Season
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Over the SEC East, Georgia and Tennessee will sort things out but it's going to be interesting on the other side.
LSU is the team on a roll while everybody else in the West is just trying to figure things out after they kicked Ole Miss sideways Saturday, 45-20.
With only four games left on the schedule (three in the league), there's still not guarantee of anything, although there will be people trying to pin a number on it.
LSU Tigers safety Joe Foucha (13) reacts after intercepting a pass against the Mississippi Rebels during the second half at Tiger Stadium. (Stephen Lew / USA TODAY Sports)
Handicapping the remaining five weeks in the league is impossible.
Don't agree? You haven't been paying attention very well and if there was anybody picking South Carolina over Texas A&M this past weekend, I missed it.
And Arkansas is stuck right in the middle of the pack with four wins. It's called parity and apparently it's arrived in the SEC.
In August when hopes were high and the Razorbacks were undefeated, not many people were predicting any problem in these last five games.
Now all five may you change guarantees to hope.
Including the anticipated blowout against Liberty on Nov. 5 at Razorback Stadium. BYU literally were flamed by Liberty on Saturday, 41-14.
After that comes home games against LSU and Ole Miss. The Hogs better get their secondary problems settled out quickly.
The next four games could be a brutal stretch. There are no more off weeks and it starts this week at Auburn, who apparently is not going to dump Bryan Harson until they hire an athletics director.
LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) is tackled by Mississippi Rebels safety Trey Washington (25) and linebacker Austin Keys (11) during the second half at Tiger Stadium. (Stephen Lew / USA TODAY Sports)
It's anybody's guess if they have a clue who they want to bring in unless some of the wealthy boosters are talking to Deion Sanders without telling anybody. Do not discount that as a possibility.
The Tigers can run the ball with one of the best running backs in the league in Tank Bigsby. Both Mississippi State and BYU ran the ball at times on the Hogs' defense, especially the Bulldogs who haven't done much since that game a couple of weeks ago.
Taking a big win over Auburn for granted might be based on a little over-reach.
Just like thinking in August that November would be a simple run to a big-time bowl game for everybody around New Year's.
That loss against the Aggies back in September is going to haunt this Razorback team all season. They lost momentum, some confidence and a lot of feelings most people hoped were buried bubbled back to the surface.
Texas A&M Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. (Jeff Blake / USA TODAY Sports)
Now the Aggies are fighting for their lives to qualify for a bowl game the Great Quarterback Guru in College Station will probably back out of playing if at all possible.
He could get canned, but I know a lot of A&M boosters and even though they can afford to write the check easily to dump him, they really don't have a taste for it right now. They are beginning to figure out his reputation hasn't match reality.
If the SEC is trying to model itself after the NFL, the competitive balance is getting there. That's parity.
In the East, after the two teams at the top, there's not two games of separation in anybody, including Vanderbilt. The West has just two games difference in the league records from top to bottom.
These last five weeks are going to be entertaining with the Hogs at a crossroads coming out of a bye week.
Let the guessing begin what the final record will be.
HOGS FEED:
'BLACK ADAM' WINS RAZORBACK OFF-WEEK WITH BIG SWING AT MARVEL
IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD THING NOW TENNESSEE NOT ON RAZORBACKS' SCHEDULE THIS YEAR
HOGS' ERIC MUSSELMAN NOT EVEN LOOKING AT ROGERS STATE UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT'S EXHIBITION
EVERYTHING NO RAZORBACK FAN KNEW ABOUT ROGERS STATE
HUDSON CLARK PICKS UP SECOND ARD OF WEEK, THIS TIME IT'S A NATIONAL ONE
RAZORBACKS' NICK SMITH NAMED AN ALL-AMERICAN BEFORE HE EVER PLAYS A COLLEGE GAME
IT HASN'T TAKEN ERIC MUSSELMAN LONG TO CHANGE SEC DRESS CODE FOR COACHES AT SEC MEDIA DAYS
SEC ROUNDUP: VIDEO SHOWS ALABAMA PLAYER APPEARING TO HIT A FEMALE VOLS' FAN
WHY DOES THE SEC MEDIA SUDDENLY RESPECT ARKANSAS BASKETBALL?
HOGS CAN'T SCRIMMAGE IN BYE WEEK BECAUSE THEY ARE IN A CORNER, SAYS SAM PITTMAN
ARKANSAS REPORTER FIRES PERFECT QUESTION BACK AT KENTUCKY'S JOHN CALIPARI
MOCK SCHEDULE SHOWS HOW TOUGH TEXAS' SCHEDULE COULD BE WHEN THEY JOIN LEAGUE
APPARENTLY OKLAHOMA, TEXAS STICKING WITH PLAN NOW NEWS
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