ESPN says Hogs have sixth toughest three-game stretch

With the start of the college football season a little over two months away, Arkansas has made one Top 10 list.

ESPN’s Chris Low put together teams with the 10 toughest three-game stretches in all of college football for 2018 and the Razorbacks made the list … at No. 6.

Sept. 22 at Auburn, Sept. 29 vs. Texas A&M, Oct. 6 vs. Alabama
Any stretch that includes both Alabama and Auburn in a span of three weeks is never for the faint of heart. Both the Crimson Tide and Tigers will again be loaded on defense this season, and with first-year coach Chad Morris taking on a major rebuilding job at Arkansas, finding a way to even get to 20 points against Alabama and Auburn will be a chore for the Hogs, who were 1-7 in the SEC last season. Sandwiched between the Auburn and Alabama games is a home date against No. 23 Texas A&M, which has won six in a row over Arkansas, with three of the past four being overtime games.

The good news for Hog fans is that’s the roughest three-game stretch in the entire season. It comes after opening with three non-conference opponents. Eastern Illinois, Colorado State and North Texas aren’t SEC teams, although the Mean Green was finally respectable last season.

Some think the game in the second week against the Rams is a trap game, but the reality is they lost their best offensive players and have as many question marks as anyone.

The Hogs’ final three-game stretch against LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri features all-new offensive coordinators. LSU could easily by 4-5 by then, a week after playing Alabama. Who knows about the Bulldogs and Missouri’s new offensive coordinator is learning the offense from the quarterback.

Ah, yes, the joys of summer college football talk.