[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3h383th881vsf1 player_id=none image=https://razorbackswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Arkansas is a one-of-a-kind place. It’s one of only a couple of states in the entire country where one team is all that matters.
Sorry, Arkansas State.
Fans of the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs abound. St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals baseball folks, too. Some love the Oklahoma City Thunder or Memphis Grizzlies. But nothing brings the masses together, sports-wise, like the Arkansas Razorbacks. Not even close.
Every other surrounding state has something else. A pro team, another big-time college program. Arkansas and Connecticut are the only two states in the country where big-time college sports are played by only one school and the entire state shows out with a passion for them. And in the case of UConn, it’s fairly exclusive to basketball.
With that passion, when things are down, comes animus. The proverbial chip-on-the-shoulder. Arkansas has always had it. Arkansas will always have it. Many times it’s unjustified, a way to blame others for self misgivings. Occasionally, though, yes, your team is actually hosed.
Take Arkansas football right now. The Razorbacks are 6-3 with losses to the No. 1, No. 12 and No. 20 teams in the nation in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. Arkansas also has a win over the No. 11 team, beat the then-No. 15 team and, most recently, knocked off the No. 17 team in the College Football Playoff ranking.
Yet when the coaches poll and the Associated Press poll were released Sunday, no Arkansas logo was to be found. Just a name in small type at the bottom under “Others receiving votes.”
Frankly, I’m not sure how that makes sense. It suggests that coaches around the country (really, it’s Sports Information Directors around the country) and assorted media truly believe that – let’s see – the those fightin’ Roadrunners of Texas-San Antonio, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana-Don’t-Call-Us-Lafayette are all better than a upper-half SEC team? Nuh uh.
Arkansas had its brains beat in by Georgia, absolutely. Guess what. So has everyone else. Arkansas lost to Ole Miss by one because a two-point conversion wasn’t completed with no time on the clock. Folks, that should be treated as ostensibly a win. And Arkansas lost to Auburn by two scores…well, that one is an outlier.
The problem isn’t, as it sounds, necessarily the media or the SIDs or the coaches. The problem is archaic way we rank teams. The College Football Playoff system catches a lot of flak, but, you know what, when is the last time it failed. There’s no question mark after that sentence because it’s not a real question. It hasn’t failed. The BCS didn’t fail before that, either.
Power-conference haters – let’s be honest, SEC haters – claim Cincinnati deserves a top four spot in the CFP rankings. They’re wrong. Now, they may not be if the Bearcats keep winning and the teams above them continue to lose. But for now, they’re wrong. They also claimed teams of the past like Central Florida in 2017 or Texas Christian in 2010 deserved a shot to play for a national championship. Silliness.
Use the data, take the data and go from there.
But this isn’t even a bag on the system, either. Yes, it stinks, but this is on us. Arkansas being ranked No. 26 or No. 21 doesn’t mean a hill of difference. Ten years from now – shoot, two years from now – no one will remember a random Week 10 ranking unless it’s up in the Top 5 and the team is playing for a national title.
The system is what the system is and while it is disrespectful toward Arkansas right now, it isn’t a conspiracy against the Razorbacks. It’s a sign that things need to change.