Of 5 Forecasted Bowl Games for Arkansas, One Stands as Most Unpalatable

Hunter Yurachek
Credit: Craven Whitlow

Some Arkansas football fans, perhaps, would deem it foolish to tempt fate by beginning to look at potential bowl games prior to the Hogs notching that all-important sixth win.

If that is the case, I am such a fool.  

But not without good reason. Quarterback Taylen Green looks fully healthy and recently led Arkansas’ steamrolling of Mississippi State, a juggernaut of an offensive performance that saw the Hogs rush for 359 yards in total without their starting running back.

Arkansas Football Bowl Prospects

It’s enough to make me think that the game vs Louisiana Tech on Nov. 23 should be a win even if things otherwise fall apart. Even if by some otherworldly, porcine stroke of fortune Arkansas were to beat Ole Miss, Texas and Mizzou, it appears the answer to whether Arkansas could make the College Football Playoffs is a definitive “no” at this point, barring some act of god.

After a brief mourning period for unrealistic expectations, I plunged into recovery via a look at Arkansas football college bowl game predictions.

Now, the cynic in me knows Arkansas will end up in the Liberty Bowl. Why? Because Arkansas has signed some kind of deal with the devil where any time they limp into a bowl game with six wins, that bowl must be the Liberty Bowl. I’m not alone in thinking this is where Arkansas will end its season.

But there are other less jaded college football analysts who see it differently. And hopefully one of them is correct. 

Unless it is 247Sports. That national outlet projects Arkansas will play Army, for the first time ever, in something called the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa.   

Obviously, playing in the Gasparilla Bowl is the actual worst-case postseason scenario for this year’s edition of the Razorbacks. Not only was I not aware of this bowl game’s existence, neither were any of you. I am not completely sure 247Sports isn’t engaging in some kind of massive troll here.

Oh, I see now. Turns out, it is an actual event, formerly known as the St. Petersburg Bowl, magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl and the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.  That’s quite an impressive list of names for having only been in existence since 2008. Suffice it to say, playing in a bowl game that changes its name on a roughly annual basis is not an unqualified success for any team.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has Arkansas taking a trip to the Birmingham Bowl to play Rutgers, which is just about on par with this preseason projection of Arkansas playing Boston College in that very same venue. The Birmingham Bowl, mind you, is frequently mocked on SEC Shorts. I see no reason to disregard their analysis in this situation.      

CBS Sports predicts Arkansas will end up in the Music City Bowl facing off against ex-Arkansas coach Bret Bielema’s Illinois team, while ESPN’s Mark Schlabach forecasts an Arkansas-TCU matchup in the Texas Bowl. Athlon Sports agrees with Schlabach.  

Now we are talking. The Texas Bowl in Houston and the Music City Bowl in Nashville have definite upsides. Both games are played in NFL stadiums. Each is in a major city that is either a long drive or a short flight from Little Rock.    

Having lived in Houston briefly, I can say unequivocally, if one must schedule a trip to Houston, December is as good a time as any. I like the idea of having a chance to beat TCU in Texas, which may benefit recruiting some. It would give Arkansas another chance to beat an old SWC foe. Arkansas has some key contributors on this year’s team from Texas and it would be nice for them to get a win in the Lone Star State after banging their heads on a brick wall at Jerry World the last three years. Honestly, if the Hogs end up in the Texas Bowl, this season would rank as an unqualified success.

Bret Bielema Must Be Discussed

But the chance to beat Illinois, coached by former head Hog Bret Bielema, in the Music City bowl is a much more appealing possibility. I feel like hiring Bielema was a mistake for the University of Arkansas. Sure, he did have some moments in his 2013-17 run at Arkansas. As you may guess from last week’s article, any coach who can lead Arkansas to a victory over the Texas Longhorns deserves some gratitude. And Bielema did just that in the 2014 Texas Bowl, by 24 points no less. He also won a Liberty Bowl game the following year after his best season at Arkansas, a sterling 7-5 in the regular season.  

And I appreciate the fact there are at least 10 former Razorback staffers, including offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr., on Bielema’s current staff. Lunney was a three-sport star at Fort Smith Southside before leading the Hogs to their first SEC West Division title in 1995.  Pulling for a former Arkansas legend to succeed at coordinator is a pretty good reason to root for a Big Ten team.

But to my mind, Bielema was the biggest part of the long downward spiral that ended in the Chad Morris era. Bielema took us to the edge of the desert and handed the reins off to Morris. A bowl win against Illinois would cleanse the palate. Granted, others on this site disagree with my assessment re: Bielema. But as Ron Burgundy says, we will just have to agree to disagree.  

I like the idea of Arkansas having a chance to beat a Big Ten team like Illinois rather than a Big 12 team like TCU to cap the year. The Big 12 is currently the Triple-A league of college football. (I am choosing to forget the Arkansas loss to Oklahoma State this season now and for the rest of my life. For your sanity, I suggest you do the same.) A victory over a Big Ten team feels like it would do more for Arkansas’ national stature. 

Is it possible the Hogs do better than the Music City Bowl? I am already tempting fate with this column. Let’s not get into what happens if Arkansas exceeds expectations for the rest of the season. Let’s just be happy we are having this conversation at all. Remember where Arkansas was a few shorts months ago.

Arkansas Football Addendum

For now, let’s continue to bask in Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, in which Arkansas put together its best offensive performance in an SEC game since 2021. Taylen Green enjoyed his best performance of the year. All of a sudden, tight ends were catching touchdown passes and multiple receivers were racking up the all-important chunk plays. The O-Line kept the other team out of the backfield. As predicted by a certain sportswriter here, Bobby Petrino was bringing some high heat with his play calling. In short, almost everything an Arkansas fan wanted from the offense happened last Saturday.

Was it against a quality defense? No. Maybe not. But it was still an SEC defense. Is it going to get Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator fired? Yes, according to this Trey Biddy Walk and Talk knock-off. But they aren’t even the lowest ranked college team, in terms of defensive efficiency, from the state of Mississippi. There are 12 whole college football teams ranked below the 2024 Mississippi State Bulldogs on that list. Grim times in Starkville indeed.  

The times for Arkansas basketball, meanwhile, are decidedly un-grim. I begin to wonder about where Arkansas will be seeded in the NCAA Tournament any given season in roughly mid-November. As we know last year, this was a waste of effort. This year I began wondering about possible seeds for the Arkansas basketball team sometime around 9 p.m. CT last Friday night.

***

If Arkansas has any real hope of finishing with, say, 8 or even 9 wins this year, then star tight end Luke Hasz is going to almost certainly play a role in that success.

Here are a couple of interesting insights he had from Tuesday night’s press conference:

On dealing with his back issue, and bouncing back with 2 touchdowns vs Miss State?)

Hasz: I struggled for a couple games with my back, but now I’m 120% healthy. I’ve felt the best I have since I got here, and even in high school.

Then Saturday being able to get those two touchdowns, and then, Andreas [Paaske] getting those (two touchdowns), I was honestly more happy seeing Andreas get those touchdowns. It was just a really good day for us as a (tight end) room and as a team

On the tight ends who were kicked off the team:

Hasz: We love them, and they’re going to go on and do other things that are going to benefit them. But it’s a really big opportunity for Maddox and all of our other guys, for Andreas, for all of us to step up … We all get the same reps at practice. That’s just how we practice. So it’ll be a really great opportunity for them to step up. We’re excited and headed in the right direction. 

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