FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Maybe the Razorbacks football team earned a little more respect outside the state of Arkansas than Sam Pittman felt within the borders this past season.
In a bit of seasonal fun, ESPN’s Chris Low decided to create a bracket based on how he thinks things will play out over the next season should things end with a 64-team playoff. Included in the field are the Razorbacks.
The Hogs slide in as a No. 9 seed alongside Utah, Nebraska and Baylor. Opposite those four teams on the No. 8 line are Iowa State, Arizona State, Texas Tech and Boise State.
While Red Raiders fans may have wanted an opportunity for revenge from the Liberty Bowl loss in a game that actually matters, Low followed the same line of thought the selection committee often follows when pairing teams.
It’s always easier to pack a stadium and draw ratings when there’s a storyline to sell. In this case, Arkansas finds itself lined up against Boise State in the Midwest Regional specifically because of the Taylen Green angle.
What becomes apparent right away is how much hype there is at ESPN when it comes to Green. As readers will find out, there is mad respect for what he is expected to do in his second season under offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
Green apparently shows the Broncos what they missed out on for keeping him on the bench so often instead of developing him. He burns his old team for 390 all-purpose yards and Travis Williams’ defense stops Boise State at the six-yard line four straight times to secure a 31-27 win to advance to the second round.
Here’s where the legend of Green looms large. While this is a practice in fiction, the sentiment carried by Low regarding the second round game isn’t.
It’s rare anyone at ESPN dares to besmirch the name of Ohio State, so it was stunning when the quarterback comparisons between the Hogs and the No. 1 seed Buckeyes, who just blasted Boston College in the opening round, turned out to be in favor of Arkansas.
“Green is the better quarterback in this game, but Ohio State is the better team,” Low writes in his description of how things play out. However, even though the Buckeyes are the better team, Green is strong enough to keep this game scarily close.
Ohio State has to hang on for dear life to avoid becoming the first No. 1 seed to fall. The Razorbacks’ defense gives up 105 yards to running back James Peoples in the second half, allowing the Buckeyes to hold on late, 30-24.
Yes, it’s all fake, but Arkansas never gets respect. Now, it should be noted that, much like in the men’s basketball tournament, the SEC lands 14 teams in the playoff.
However, getting seeded on the middle line and advancing to the second round based on a strong quarterback and a defensive stand is far more than any Arkansas fan would allow for when picturing the scenario. Adding a close call for defending national champion Ohio State is probably a point that goes too far for Hogs fans, but it’s a different world around the rest of college football.
There Arkansas is the program that became America’s team in 2021 similar to how Vanderbilt was this past season. It’s among the other conference footprints that the Razorbacks are a team that can jump up and bite a playoff team like Tennessee when the fans get behind them and it not be an overwhelming shocker.
And it’s out there, away from the local call-in shows and Razorback social media, that the Hogs are seen as a potential Cinderella story that can literally be a single play away from taking down a national power favorite and dance right into the Sweet 16 to face BYU, a team Arkansas fans don’t fear.
So, be warned Notre Dame. There’s not a 64-team playoff, but there is a game in the first half of the season in Fayetteville against a team from the national championship game where Arkansas can shock the world and pull the upset.
The Irish are currently getting set to launch a three-way quarterback battle that may drag on into fall camp. Whoever wins out will have a month of games to get his feet under him, but as Hogs fans have seen, the growth of a new quarterback from late September to late fall is astronomical.
It’s quite possible Arkansas enters that game with a decisive quarterback advantage, much in the same way as the fictional Ohio State game. However, if Green pulls off a big performance and leads the Razorbacks to a win, it will definitely be real.
So real that even Hogs fans would have to believe it.
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