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Don’t worry over worthless Top 25 rankings

Hogs finish 26th in voting for this week’s Top 25 by The Associated Press, which means absolutely nothing and shouldn’t bother fans. Beat Tennessee and the ranking will be there.

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Arkansas is not in The Associated Press weekly Top 25 rankings.

Again.

Many Razorback fans are ticked off. They see it as a lack of respect, which is probably true in a certain way, but it’s not personal.

Arkansas received the the 26th most votes (85) for a second consecutive week while three SEC opponents fall inside the top 20 with Texas A&M (5), Kentucky (16) and Tennessee (19).

Oklahoma, who the Razorbacks defeated at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, has won eight in a row since the loss and sits at No. 12.

Now the question of what does this mean?

Absolutely nothing.

If anything, when Mike Anderson is asked about it at a press conference Tuesday before Wednesday night’s game with California State-Bakersfield, the guess here is he will dismiss it.

Coaches tend to not worry a whole lot about things they can’t control and they certainly can’t control The AP voters.

He’s right. Fans shouldn’t be worrying about it, either.

Right now it means absolutely nothing other than to provide a little extra motivation to some opponents. And, based on what we’ve learned in the last few years with more transparency in the NCAA Tournament process, it means nothing coming tournament time.

Now, what Anderson won’t mention is the benefits the Hogs could get from being ranked in terms of publicity.

A lot of media outlets do not get information on college teams that are not ranked in the Top 25. Right or wrong, that’s the way it has been for decades.

When I started in the business over 40 years ago, if the Hogs weren’t ranked, well, you didn’t get any information from the wire services about their games other than in the mile-long list of scores.

Getting ranked could possibly provide some additional publicity in places outside the state of Arkansas.

But how much is anybody’s guess.

Don’t worry about it, though.

A win over Tennessee on Saturday will shoot the Hogs into the Top 25.

Probably into the top 20 or even higher.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole MissL, 63-31
Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
ABC
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana Tech3:00 PM
ESPN+/SECN+
Sat, Nov 30@ Missouri2:30 or 3:30 PM
TBA
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (25)10-02681
2.Greenwood (2)10-02343
30Conway9-12022
4.Little Rock Parkview9-11714
5.Bentonville7-31625
6.Benton9-11486
7.Fayetteville8-21117
8.Pulaski Academy8-2898
9.Rogers7-3439
10.Joe T. Robinson9-122
Others receiving votes: Valley View 8, Mountain Home 7, Cabot 6, Little Rock Catholic 6, Shiloh Christian 6, Elkins 1, Farmington 1.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (27)10-01351
2.Conway9-11022
3.Bentonville7-3813
4.Fayetteville8-2454
5.Pulaski Academy8-2395
Others receiving votes: Rogers 3.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (27)10-01351
2.Benton9-11082
3.Mountain Home8-2623
4.Shiloh Christian7-3494
5.Little Rock Catholic9-1345
Others receiving votes: Marion 6.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (27)9-11351
2.Joe T. Robinson9-11062
3.Valley View10-0793
4.Farmington9-1484
5.Hot Springs Lakeside8-2205
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 7, Harding Academy 7, Morrilton 3.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (20)10-01261
3.Arkadelphia (5)8-2913
2.Little Rock Mills (1)10-0682
4.Warren8-2554
5.Dardanell (1)9-123
Southside Batesville10-023
Others receiving votes: Malvern 12, Gravette 5, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
1.Bismarck (12)10-01051t
2.Fordyce (10)10-0961t
3.Prescott (1)9-1704
4.Osceola (2)8-1543
5.Booneville (1)9-1395
Others receiving votes: Mansfield (1) 23, Rivercrest 10, Rison 4, Salem 4.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (20)10-01271
2.Conway Christian (7)10-01152
3.Des Arc8-2595
4.East Poinsett Co.7-352
5.Bigelow6-4183
Murfreesboro7-3184
Others receiving votes: Mount Ida 6, Junction City 4, Cross County 3, Poyen 3.
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (27)5-0811
2.Midland9-0532
3.Cedar Ridge8-1253
Others receiving votes: Woodlawn 3.

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