Arkansas checks in at No. 23 in preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

The Razorbacks host No. 22 Cincinnati in the season opener September 3.

Things are looking up in Fayetteville.

Fresh off the most successful season in a decade, the Arkansas football team will enter the 2022 season inside the Top 25.

The Razorbacks were ranked No. 23 in the first USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll of the season, released Monday. It’s just slightly north of where Arkansas finished in the poll last year, No. 20.

Coach Sam Pittman’s team was picked to finish third in the SEC West this season during SEC Media Days in July. Arkansas is coming off a 9-4 season and the team’s first bowl game – a win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl – since the 2016 Belk Bowl.

The Razorbacks open the season at home against No. 22 Cincinnati on September 3.

Arkansas will also play against SEC foes Alabama (preseason No. 1), Texas A&M (No. 7) and Ole Miss (No. 24). Other SEC teams ranked were No. 3 Georgia and No. 21 Kentucky.

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