Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It certainly seems that way for SEC football these days, considering the multiple black eyes it’s been receiving in bowl games that actually count.
Certainly, it’s felt that way for much longer for Arkansas football fans since joining the Southeastern Conference – especially after a heartbreaking defeat or when another program plucks a player away from the Hogs’ roster and he ends up performing well.
Millennials liken it to ‘Hogs gon Hog’ on the various social media platforms.
In football, all fans have to do is fire up YouTube and go find recap videos of the Florida game in 2009, when the officials clearly were in cahoots to keep No. 1 and defending national champion Florida undefeated.
Or even more recently, the 2020 Auburn game when Bo Nix undoubtedly fumbled the ball backwards yet the officiating crew ruled that it was an incomplete pass and allowed them to keep possession and ultimately win the game.
While not necessarily at the mercy of the SEC, the basketball program could point to the 2017 NCAA Tournament round of 32 contest against North Carolina, when the top-ranked Tar Heels were on the ropes and got more than their fair share of help in erasing a 5-point deficit with three minutes to play and advanced and eventually won the national championship.
Mike Irwin Isn’t Afraid of Saying It
One particular long-time Arkansas sportscaster won’t shy away from what he thinks is a clear bias against the Razorbacks directly from the commissioner’s office downward.
On a recent episode of ‘Ask Mike’ for KNWA’s Pig Trail Nation, Mike Irwin says that Arkansas has been shafted over and over in different ways since Roy Kramer retired as the SEC commissioner before the 2002 football season.
Kramer, of course, was the commissioner when he convinced Frank Broyles to move the Razorbacks from the Southwest to the Southeastern Conference in 1991.
“It’s been nothing but up yours ever since,” Irwin said.
Now, one could look at this as sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you go in already anticipating to be screwed over or have the attitude that you’re up against it, you’ll probably get the result you’re expecting.
In a lot of regards, this is probably the case. If Best of Arkansas Sports were to reach out to the SEC office for a comment on why they are so biased against Arkansas, they would almost certainly say that no such bias exists, and that each of the 16 member institutions are treated with equal respect.
That’s a lot like a parent with multiple children answering that question. If the father is asked by one of his kids which one his favorite is, he’s going to say, “I love you all the same.”
As a father of three boys, I have used this line. My oldest is fond of thinking that the other two get preferential treatment over him. He doesn’t realize that I expect more out of him because he’s the oldest and he knows better.
He just sees it as unfair.
Now, sure, there are plenty of times when, if two of the kids are acting up and one of them is attempting to help me corral the others or assist in attitude adjustment, I may in the moment favor that one. But it isn’t until the end of time.
There have certainly been situations where it feels like Arkansas has gotten the short end of the stick of bad calls, bad scheduling, or punishment that seemed like it was undue.
Not So Fast, Arkansas Fans
Still, I don’t believe it is a grand conspiracy to make sure the Razorbacks stay a bottom dweller of the SEC in football and never ascend to championships in the other sports either.
Arkansas wins plenty of championships in the other sports, anyway. If bias truly existed, they would be getting treated unfairly across the board, not just in football and men’s basketball.
The conference didn’t keep Eric Cole from running in and call Carson Shaddy and Jared Gates off and catch the foul popup that should’ve won Dave Van Horn and the Diamond Hogs a national championship in 2018.
I think this “little brother syndrome” took effect when the Razorbacks joined the conference. The South as a whole has always felt like the rest of the world has looked down on it. Just look at some of the music and entertainment that has come out that reflects that opinion.
‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd is a perfect example.
When you go in thinking the odds are against you, it’ll probably shake out that way.
This bowl season, the SEC has gotten undressed for the most part. Only Arkansas (lol), Florida, LSU, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss won their bowl games. Texas is still alive in the Playoff (by virtue of a missed targeting call and fourth-and-13 conversion in OT).
Georgia, who has been the standard bearer for the last few years, got completely stymied by Notre Dame in the postponed Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Arkansas’ major league club, Ole Miss, did manage to dominate Duke in the Gator Bowl. Lane Kiffin is great at winning games that don’t matter.
Much was made of the four quarterfinalists with byes all losing over New Year’s. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if SEC apologists starting spouting off about the next inevitable expansion of College Football Playoff being unfair to the SEC. That would be rich.
Officials are still going to make bad calls. Schedules are still going to be made and may inconvenience or make things daunting for Arkansas. At the end of the day, they’re going to have to deal with it and do the best they can.
That way I don’t have to read another “here’s why Arkansas should move to the Big 12” column this summer.
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Arkansas Portal Defectors Have 2 Legit Revenge Games in 2025
While most fans want to wish their former players well at their new spot, seeing them donning rival colors makes that much harder. Mostly, the Hogs have been giving the departed portal departures your standard boilerplate niceties. But current Razorback players like offensive lineman Fernando Carmona Jr. have seemingly been talking trash to these departed Hogs instead of offering well wishes.
A full thirty Razorbacks have left the team in this transfer cycle, with 27% of them remaining uncommitted.
Here’s a tracker of where all of Arkansas’ outgoing transfers are heading:
Mike Irwin discusses the SEC and Arkansas beginning at the 38:30 mark below:
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