Before last season, Arkansas football was on the bottom half of the SEC hierarchy for a good bit of the decade. From 2010 to 2020, the Razorbacks had six seasons of less than seven wins (four less than three).
And then Sam Pittman arrived.
Pittman has transitioned the Razorbacks into a team to be reckoned with in the SEC, winning nine games in one of the toughest schedules in football.
“It’s changed a little bit. You see your name in the top 25, we’ve been there for a while now,” Pittman said about keeping the same “disrespected chip” the team has carried.
“But our kids, we have a smart group of kids [who] believes in their coaches. They believe in what we’ve done, what we do at practice, and how we play is the only reason why we’re winning. I believe that, too. They like winning every bit as much as we do. I think they’ve bought in.”
The Razorbacks touched the top ten for the first since 2012 last season after starting the year not ranked. However, as they head into their second consecutive week as the favorite, no longer are the Razorbacks under the radar.