Nate Allen
FAYETTEVILLE - Sam Pittman got his wish for his Razorbacks last week defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs, then 17th-ranked by the College Football Playoff Committee.
On Tuesday’s CFP Top 25 list, the Razorbacks, unranked in last week’s first CFP poll but now a bowl eligible 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC going into Saturday night’s SEC game at LSU,made the CFP Top 25 cut.
The Razorbacks remain unranked in the AP and Coaches polls though they ranked as high as No. 8 in AP with a 4-0 start including victories over then No. 15 Texas and then No. 7 Texas A&M before three consecutive SEC losses to current No. 1 in all pollsGeorgia, Ole Miss, No. 12 in AP and No. 15 in CFP, and Auburn, No. 15 in AP and No. 17 in CFP.
Pittman after Arkansas’ 31-28 victory over “a good Mississippi State team” last Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium said the Razorbacks deserve to be included in the next CFP Top 25.
Now it’s wondered if the Hogs, their last winning season a 7-6 2016 under Bret Bielema followed by 4-8 under Bielema, 2-10 and 2-10 under Chad Morris and last year’s 3-7 under Pittman in an entirely SEC schedule, could get content just being ranked going into Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. SEC Network televised SEC West game with the LSU Tigers. The Tigers were national champions of 2019 but this season 4-5, 2-4 and since Oct. 17 declaring they will part ways with national championship Coach Ed Orgeron at this season’s end.
“Obviously any time that (a national ranking to a rebuilding program) happens you start worrying about, ‘Well, they’re going to look at that and not concentrate on practice’ and all this,” Pittman said on Wednesday’s SEC Coaches/Media teleconference. “I’m a little bit different in that in that our program has been down for a few years, and with us getting in the Top 25 after Week 9, that’s a mark for our program. Obviously we know it’s hard to stay there. But I know us and myself and my staff, we were excited to be in the top 25 after nine weeks.”
Asked again about hard to handle success, Pittman said it shouldn’t be hard at all considering the remaining games are at LSU, since 2015 annually defeating Arkansas every year, at No. 2 Alabama, last beaten in their annual SEC West game by Arkansas in 2006, and finish the season the day after Thanksgiving at Reynolds Razorback Stadium against Missouri, 6-1 against Arkansas since their annual SEC East vs. SEC West game commenced in 2014.
“Not hard because you’re playing LSU,” Pittman said. “And then you have Alabama after that, and Missouri. I mean, it (not resting on laurels) doesn’t seem to be too hard.”
Also, Pittman said the Hogs dealt better with success than might initially appear from the 3-game losing streak after being ranked No. 8 nationally.
“You might say, ‘Well, we were eighth in the country at one point, and then we lost at Georgia and Ole Miss and Auburn,” Pittman said. “Well, we lost to three really good football teams, now. We’ve beaten some really good football teams. But the losses everybody who’s played Georgia’s lost to them. And most everybody that’s played Ole Miss, so it’s not like we lost to a team that wasn’t a good football team. I think we were prepared in each one of those games, and the other team just got us at that point.”
Last week in Tuscaloosa, Ala. LSU played Alabama to the wire before losing, 20-14.
“LSU’s a really good team,” Pittman said. “And so the rankings and where we’re at, I don’t think that has anything to do honestly with the mindset of our football team going to play LSU because we have high, high, high respect for LSU.”