Arkansas Bowl Projection: Yes, There’s One More To Play

As many fans just want to move on from this season and get to the distraction of basketball, Arkansas has a bowl game to be played.

As I type this Missouri is hitting a receiver for another deep ball and Auburn just got another touchdown. It’s been the kind of season where when the regular games end, fans reactions are to call for a forfeiture of the bowl game. I can’t say that I blame them but recruits like to see their school go so there you go.

So let’s get to some possibilities of where Arkansas could end up in the post season and who could be beating them. We’ll start with the ever-important question of where do they rank and how many bowl eligible teams have they beaten.

Arkansas ranks 5th in the west with a 7-5 record overall and 3-5 in the conference. Their record against other bowl teams is 4-4. There are still some deciding factors at play for the SEC and which teams will be going where. One of which is the SEC championship but for obvious purposes, I’m going to be going with Bama beating Florida.

There is something to consider in all this. The SEC has SIX teams that finished 8-4 or 7-5 with another two teams qualified at 6-6. Arkansas is is going to be eligible for one of the SEC 3-8 bowls. The only certainty for Arkansas is that it won’t be the Liberty bowl since they went last year and that it probably won’t be the Texas bowl due to them going the year before.

List of SEC Bowl Games

Sugar Bowl- New Orleans, LA 1/2/17-VS-Big 12

Outback Bowl- Tampa, FL 1/2/17-VS-Big 10

Citrus Bowl- Orlando, FL 12/31/16-VS-ACC/Big 10

TaxSlayer Bowl-Jacksonville, FL 12/31/16-VS-ACC/Big 10

Music City Bowl- Nashville, TN 12/30/16-VS-ACC/Big 10

Liberty Bowl- Memphis, TN 12/30/16-VS-Big 12

Belk Bowl- Charlotte, NC 12/29/16-VS-ACC

Birmingham Bowl- Birmingham, AL 12/29/16-VS-American

Texas Bowl- Houston, TX 12/28/16-VS-Big 12

Independence Bowl- Shreveport, LA 12/26/16-VS-ACC

Then There Were Three

Obviously, Arkansas isn’t going to the first three on the list or the Independence and Birmingham bowls because of standings. Then, like I said earlier, minus the Liberty and Texas bowls. So after that, we are left with Taxslayer, Music City, and Belk bowls.

Taxslayer Bowl

Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports has Arkansas in the Taxslayer vs North Carolina. Now, this would be cool simply because it’s in Florida and coach Bielema’s staff are always trying to get kids out of there. Also, it’s warmer so fans might be more apt to travel. The downside is most of the teams that are in the 4-7 window for this bowl from the ACC would probably beat Arkansas.

I personally wouldn’t mind this one so much as I just hate the opponents here. Then again, to be quite honest, I am probably going to say that about any bowl projection matchup. If the Hogs could get the win there, it’d be great for crootin.

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Music City Bowl

I think the projection from SB Nation was the only one I found putting Arkansas in this bowl game. The opponent they have us playing is Minnesota. The opponents for this game are the ACC 3-6 or Big 10 5-7. Out of the Big 10, they could also get Iowa and Northwestern. The league officials will probably send either Georgia or Tennessee to this one because of location reasons.

Belk Bowl

This is the bowl basically everyone, myself included, has Arkansas going to and for good reason. Arkansas has never been to this bowl game. As far as opponents go, it’s the ACC 4-7 so you are looking at the same as the Taxslayer bowl. Most projections you’re going to find out there put Arkansas against Miami or North Carolina.

With the Hogs never playing in this one, I feel it’s a pretty much lock that the league officials will be sending them to Charlotte. I would hope that they don’t end up playing North Carolina due to it’s so close for their fans. Depending on which Arkansas shows up it should be a good game no matter which ACC team they send.

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I think most fans would be ok with any of these three. I know everyone prefers a nice Florida bowl like the Taxslayer bowl but don’t get your hopes up on the league sending Arkansas. Honestly, the Razorbacks don’t really deserve a Flordia bowl in my opinion. Let me know what you think about the choices and opponents! Woo Pig!