Interesting revised schedule lineup for Hogs provides some opportunities

Arkansas kicks off the Sam Pittman era at home inside Razorback Stadium on Sept. 26 against a familiar foe for the new head Hog.

The storyline will be Pittman going up against the No. 4 Bulldogs that he coached on the offensive line for the last four years, but the rest of the schedule provides even a little more intrigue.

Mixed around that opener and facing Auburn with former head coach Chad Morris and the annual Gus Malzahn drama will be games with Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

Of course the games in the middle count, too, and there is another program with a new coach in Missouri the Hogs play the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Then Alabama comes to Fayetteville to wrap things up. By then who knows what will be happening but it was the safest thing for the league to do in terms of interest for games that could be cancelled with the global pandemic.

For the first time since 2009, Georgia comes to Fayetteville, the first of six teams ranked in the Coaches’ preseason poll on the Razorbacks’ schedule.

 The Hogs will hit the road for a pair of games following the opener, visiting Mississippi State (Oct. 3) and No. 11 Auburn (October 10) before returning home to face Ole Miss (Oct. 17). After four games, Arkansas enters the bye week Oct. 24 before taking off for No. 13 Texas A&M and visiting College Station for the first time since 2012 on Halloween.

Tennessee visits Fayetteville on Nov. 7 in the Volunteers’ first trip to Arkansas since 2011. The Hogs take on a pair of preseason Top 10 teams in back-to-back weeks with a visit to The Swamp and No. 8 Florida on Nov. 14 then return home to take on defending national champion and No. 5 LSU on Nov. 21.

Arkansas’ final road game of the season comes at Missouri on Nov. 28 but the game against the Tigers will not be the regular season finale for the first time since 2013.

The Hogs instead will end the regular season the following week in Fayetteville against No. 3 Alabama.

Dates and TV network designations will be announced at a later date by the Southeastern Conference.

Date – Opponent – Place

Sept. 26 – No. 4 Georgia – Fayetteville, Ark.
Oct. 3 – at Mississippi State – Starkville, Miss.
Oct. 10 – at No. 11 Auburn – Auburn, Ala.
Oct. 17 – Ole Miss – Fayetteville, Ark.
Oct. 24 – OPEN
Oct. 31 – at No. 13 Texas A&M – College Station, Texas
Nov. 7 – Tennessee – Fayetteville, Ark.
Nov. 14 – at No. 8 Florida – Gainesville, Fla.
Nov. 21 – No. 5 LSU – Fayetteville, Ark.
Nov. 28 – at Missouri – Columbia, Mo.
Dec. 5 – No. 3 Alabama – Fayetteville, Ark.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.