Sam Pittman-Auburn — Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman watches his team warm up before the game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. (John Reed / USA TODAY Sports)

No Lofty Expectations for Hogs, Which Sam Pittman Probably Likes

Probably shouldn't be surprising no one in national media expecting much this year

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Jul 10, 2023 3:13 PM EDT
Original:
Jul 8, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman is probably not too disappointed they aren't being listed as one of the favorites for much of anything headed into the 2023 season. I've always gotten the idea he likes the underdog role.

Fans have high hopes, but the reality is there are way too many questions with so few answers there's no solid basis on which to make a prediction. That's not just the Razorbacks, by the way, because most of the teams in the SEC have the same issue.

In Phil Steele's Top 40 magazine, the Hogs didn't even get close to the Top 25. Five teams on their schedule this year from the SEC finished in front of them and some will probably surprise you.

Alabama, as usual, is high, coming in at No. 4 (which is probably complete disrespect for many of the Crimson Tide faithful) behind Georgia. That wasn't surprising. What was a little eye-opening was LSU ninth. Two teams on the list in the Top 10 the Hogs will have to deal with.

The real surprises start with Texas A&M No. 12 (right behind the annual over-reach of Texas at No. 11). A lot of the Hogs' faithful have the same problem with the Aggies every year, thinking it's already in the win column next to a multitude of excuses why A&M has won 10 of the last 11 games.

Now, granted, the Hogs have found some inventive ways to lose some of the games, not the least of which was Cam Little's field goal landing on the top of the right upright in 2022. That's still baffling.

Tennessee comes in 19th on the list, which is a lofty prediction for a program that was about as low as things got not too long ago. Okay, Chad Morris had the Hogs in a worse position, so you can go lower, but now the Volunteers have finally gotten the Alabama drought off the table and have their sights set on Georgia for a shot at claiming the SEC's final SEC East championship.

Another surprise for a lot of the Hogs' fans will by Ole Miss at No. 26, mainly because they find it hard to believe the Rebels should be ranked ahead of them in anything. A lot of that is the expectations the national media have around Lane Kiffin and they are still wondering what Pittman's going to be able to accomplish.

Sam's probably just embracing the underdog role. He'll never downplay his team and maintain he has high expectations, but that's his job. The last coach to throw his own team under the bus on a regular basis was Lou Holtz, but that was a different team in a different era.

For now, they have a schedule that is once again one of the toughest in the country and a roster full of question marks.

Which means, quite simply, we don't know. They could be conference champions, but nobody is predicting it.