Who thinks Arkansas has the talent to compete for a Western Division Championship as long as Alabama, Auburn and LSU is in our division.Honest answers.
Not now no. Can it be done, yes. Will take some time
Will it be easy no. What was it 6 -7yrs ago we finished 5 in country 11-2 record. In 2007 we went to Baton Rouge and beat LSU, didn’t LSU win the national championship that year. In 2011 we beat Auburn in Fayetteville, Auburn was defending National Champion, they didn’t have Cam Newton, they were still ranked high.
Realize Saban will retire in a few years so AL & others may not always be so dominant. Petrino proved AR can quickly become competitive. We have nearby No. TX recruiting opportunities if we can capitalize on that. We just don’t have a sustained history of success to build on at this time. Get the right coach, & we quickly become competitive again.
HDN teams finished at the top of the West 3 times in 10 years.
Yes, it is possible.
Alabama was down then. Obviously they can’t sustain Saban level success forever, but he’s not going anywhere soon.
LSU had Saban then. They were awfully good.
Let’s not be afraid to give our guys some credit.
We could beat Saban at LSU. Not at Bama
HDN did have the luxury of coaching in a much weaker SEC West. After hip surgery & at 68, Saban tenure there is limited. National championships are no longer a given for AL so may not be as fun for him. Obiously the $ is a non-issue.
Lunney mentioned at today’s Press Conference that UA had been to 3 SEC Championship games.
Maybe someone should have stood up and said, “But Nick wasn’t at Bama then.”
Goodness.
1 Like
Things can change, we can compete. If we didn’t think we could why would anyone be on here? Go to the games? Spend millions on coaches.
Just need to find the right guy. Hopefully we do that. We may not win 10 a year. But we can be competitive year in and out, and atleast 1 time every 5 years be in contention for the sec title. That’s my thoughts atleast.
I think that’s a very reasonable/achievable goal. With the right coach. I think BB was actually on his way there until the wheels fell off, and he couldn’t get them back on, mainly due to bad recruiting choices.
Dftexhog, would you tell Matt Jones, DMAC, Ken Hamlin, etc to their face that they didn’t compete against the best?
He wouldn’t have to. The SEC West won one national title in the Nutt era, and that was the two-loss LSU team we beat in 2007. Tennessee and Florida also won NCs but they were in the East. Since then the SEC West has won six national titles.
He may have been, but I don’t think his system would’ve ever allowed us to win anything, or sustain it. But that’s irrelevant.
It can be done and should be expected. Next year a bowl game should be expected. Find someone who can get it done. I think HY can.
Well, SwineFusion, maybe you should take their rings from them.
That’s almost like theft by deception.
Going from likely 2-10 to 6-6 is not impossible but I’d tap the brakes on the expectations. I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. I thought 5-7 this year, maybe 6-6, which reminded me once again of what you set yourself up for with expectations.
Sorry if you don’t like the truth, pal. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t correct. Wasn’t my opinion, either, just documented facts.
We’ve done it before. Don’t know why it’s so hard to believe we can do it again
If your asking will Arkansas talent match the average talent including non starters, the answer is no.
However, if the question is will there be some years where our starting talent along with really good coaching be able to compete in the SEC, the answer is yes. Playoff level…doubt it.