We continue our countdown to kickoff with another new offseason series: predicting the record for each team in the SEC with a game by game look at their schedule.
Up next, the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Strength of Schedule: 2nd in the SEC
Death, taxes, and Arkansas football playing an absolute gauntlet every fall. The Razorbacks have never shied away from competition, and that will be the case once again in 2026.
They have a road game at Utah in Week 2 against a program which has lost one game or fewer at home in four of the last five years. When they return, they get Georgia the following week. They also play back-to-back games against Tennessee and Texas A&M and Texas and LSU at the end of the season. In between, they get Missouri, at Auburn and South Carolina.
Arkansas is most likely staring three wins right in the face. Even worse, they get just one back-to-back home game all year when Georgia and Tulsa come to town in late September.
Biggest game of the year: Tennessee
Arkansas will most likely start the year 2-3 in their first five games. That is assuming they lose the three games they’re underdogs in against Utah, Georgia and Texas A&M. Then, they return home for game six against Tennessee before a trip to Nashville to play Vanderbilt in their last game before the bye week.
Tennessee is starting a freshman at quarterback, has a brand new defensive coordinator and will be coming off back-to-back games against Texas and Auburn. Arkansas could have a really good chance at winning that game and righting the ship. A win against Tennessee and then Vanderbilt would give the Hogs a 4-3 record going into the bye.
That’s a lot of positivity that would surround the program during the extra week of rest and media narratives without a game to cover. A loss could mean sinking to 2-4 on the year and fans checking out as they countdown the days until basketball season.
Best chance at upset: South Carolina
I’m very high on South Carolina this year, but Arkansas gets them in a really tricky spot. South Carolina’s back half of the schedule is pretty brutal. Their final five games include Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia and Clemson in a five week span. Sandwiched in the middle of that is a road trip to Arkansas.
It’s not out of the question for South Carolina to be coming off a big win against Texas A&M the week they head to Fayetteville. It happened two years ago when they smoked a top ten Aggie team 44-20. A trip to Arkansas while riding high after a potential win there would be a perfect storm for an upset by the Hogs.
A can’t lose game of the year: Vanderbilt
The way the schedule sets up, it feels like this may be Arkansas’ last best chance at a win before the regular season ends. Vanderbilt will be the home team, but they’ll also be starting a true freshman at quarterback. As talented as Jared Curtis is as a former five-star recruit, being a true freshman quarterback in this league isn’t for the weak at heart.
Vanderbilt has turned their program around under Clark Lea and by all means Arkansas finishing 2-10 a season ago makes them the worst team in the conference. That can change from year to year, but it would be a black eye on the start of the Ryan Silverfield era if they lose to the perennial basement dweller of the league.
Toughest Stretch: November
Can we just say the whole schedule? It’s going to be an uphill battle in year one for Ryan Silverfield, but the month of November will be especially tough. The Hogs have road trips to Auburn and Texas and host South Carolina and LSU. All four of those teams should be bowl eligible teams in 2026, and at least two of them should be challenging for a spot in the college football playoff.
Ceiling and Floor: 6-6 and 2-10
You could sell me on a best case scenario this season of Arkansas catching fire and making a bowl game. But, six wins is the highest of ceilings for them this year, and it feels like even that is being generous.
It’s hard to win at Arkansas, regardless of who is the head coach. I never thought Sam Pittman deserved to be let go, especially considering that over 47 percent of his games as a head coach came against ranked opponents. Even worse, 71 percent of his losses were to top 25 teams and 56 percent of his losses were by one score.
It’s hard to win at Arkansas. I don’t expect a coach who never finished higher than third in the American Athletic Conference to be a cure-all in year one. There’s a path for Arkansas getting six wins. There’s a much more likely path to them going 3-9.
Season Prediction: 3-9
North Alabama – W 52-10
At Utah – L 34-21
Georgia – L 38-13
Tulsa – W 44-17
At Texas A&M – L 31-17
Tennessee – L 21-20
At Vanderbilt – W 24-20
Missouri – L 30-20
At Auburn – L 27-17
South Carolina – L 27-20
At Texas – L 41-17
LSU – L 38-17
