'Hell of an opportunity', Sam Pittman talks Arkansas football's gauntlet schedule

Arkansas has not been handed an easy schedule over the past few years. With the Southeastern Conference getting better and stronger every year, the Razorbacks are having to keep up with the 15 other teams that all have the chance to beat each other on any given Saturday.

The Hogs may not be playing Alabama or Georgia this season, but the rest of the conference will be a gauntlet in order to win more than six games. Head coach Sam Pittman expressed how tough it is to play in the best conference during SEC Media Days on Thursday.

Sam Pittman talks gauntlet schedule at SEC Media days

“I don't think you could have an easy schedule in the SEC,” Pittman said Thursday during his opening statement of the SEC Media Days. “I just don't think it would happen. You could have it easier, but the word 'easy' and nothing left on the back end of it never happens in the SEC.”

However, Sam Pittman isn't too afraid heading into the 2025-26 season. "[The schedule gives] the University of Arkansas one hell of an opportunity.' chirped Pittman. That's what it does. We got a good football team, too. They have to play Arkansas, too, now. We know who we're playing, they know who they're playing, too. We're proud of our football team."

Two of Arkansas’ four non-conference opponents are Memphis on the road and Notre Dame at home. The Tigers posted an 11-2 (6-2 AAC) record in 2024 with a 42-37 victory over West Virginia in the Frisco Bowl on Dec. 17, while the Fighting Irish finished as the 2025 CFP runner-up with a 14-2 record in head coach Marcus Freeman’s third year.

Not only will the Hogs have a difficult non-conference lineup, but an even harder SEC schedule. Despite having winnable games at home against Auburn and Mississippi State, the Razorbacks will be in for a ride in their away games against Texas, Tennessee, LSU and Ole Miss, all of which have a good shot of making the College Football Playoff.

“We play Auburn at home, Mississippi State and Missouri,” Pittman said. “On the road we play four top 15, top 10, top five, wherever you look at them, teams on the road: at Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU and Texas. Six or eight, depending on what polls you look at, ranked in the top 25. Nine of them went to the postseason, three of them went to the College Playoffs.”

It is not just Arkansas that is going to have a hard time this season. The top 11 toughest schedules in the FBS are held by SEC teams, including the Razorbacks, per ESPN analytics. The hardest schedule in college football belongs to the Florida Gators, having to take on Tennessee, Georgia and Texas at home and LSU, Texas A&M, Miami (FL) and Ole Miss on the road. Fourth-year head coach Billy Napier is confident that his team has enough talent to take on these difficult opponents after going 8-5 (4-4 SEC) last season.

"We have enough talent," Napier said. "I think this team is going to be all about doing the things that require no talent. And we have to stay consumed with improvement. We gotta keep getting better."

Not only do talented players help win games, but so does an elite and experienced coaching staff that can lead a team to victory. Pittman has full confidence in second-year offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and third-year defensive coordinator Travis Williams. Arkansas was 10th in the nation last season with 459.5 yards per game, with 6.58 yards per play. The Razorbacks' defense was 37th in the country with a 35.9% third-down conversion rate. The stats may look nice, but the Hogs made mistakes in close games, going 1-3 in one-possession games.

"When you have a good team and a good coaching staff, you don't feel the pressure as much as if you're going, 'Ah, we're going to go out there and get slaughtered and I got nobody to coach them.' That's not the case at all," Pittman said.

The Razorbacks open up the season against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on Saturday, Aug. 30, at home in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.