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Sam Pittman’s 2021 Arkansas football team is ranked No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press media poll. They’re as highly ranked as they have been in a decade.
But are they still underrated? The Hogs coach thinks they may be.
“Well, someone will say Texas A&M ain’t any good because Arkansas beat them,” Pittman said after Saturday’s win over the Aggies. “Well, someone will say Texas ain’t any good because Arkansas beat them. But I think both those teams are really good. And Arkansas is a good football team, too.”
Coaches and teams’ fans prefer to have the chip on their shoulder. If the perception is someone out there is being disrespectful, it can serve as motivation. It doesn’t always matter who that someone is.
It’s possible this year’s Razorbacks team is a bit overlooked. But it’s easy to imagine why. They won three games last year, two the year before and two the year before that. It was nearly impossible to see a 4-0 start to 2021.
But that’s changing. The coaches are lifting the Hogs higher in the polls. The media is lifting the Hogs higher in the polls. How else could the respect be shown?
It will only grow with a win Saturday against No. 2 Georgia. The Bulldogs have looked like perhaps the best team in the SEC, even better than Alabama, through four weeks. An Arkansas victory over UGA would be a clear, undeniable signal the Razorbacks are one of the best teams in the country.
To anyone who doesn’t believe that yet, anyway.