If there is any doubts about why Chad Morris is the new Arkansas football coach, just follow the numbers.
Since the SEC expanded in 2012, here are the football records, broken into some groups as the records have shown some interesting trends:
King of the Mountain
1. Alabama, 43-5
Trying to Climb
2. Georgia, 34-14
3. LSU, 31-17
4. Florida, 30-18
Middle of the Road
5. Auburn, 25-23
6. Texas A&M, 25-23
7. Mississippi State, 24-24
8. South Carolina, 24-24
9. Missouri, 23-25
10. Ole Miss, 22-26
Bottom Dwellers
11. Tennessee, 15-33
12. Vanderbilt, 15-33
13. Arkansas, 13-35
14. Kentucky, 12-36
That’s going to be some eye-opening numbers for some folks, but it’s only when enough years have passed that you have a trend.
And that trend for Razorback fans has been excruciating. No one expected the Hogs to be as dominant in the SEC as they were in the old Southwest Conference days, but winning less than Vandy?
Look at how things changed from the pre-expansion years:
King of the Mountain
1. Florida, 124-36
Trying to Climb
2. Tennessee, 107-53
3. Alabama, 103-56-1
4. Georgia, 99-60-1
5. Auburn, 98-60-2
6. LSU, 95-64-1
Middle of the Pack
7. Arkansas, 77-81-2
8. South Carolina, 66-93-1
9. Ole Miss, 60-100
10. Mississippi State, 57-102-1
Bottom Dwellers
11. Kentucky, 45-15
12. Vanderbilt, 25-135
Texas A&M and Missouri have played around .500 since joining the league while kicking Arkansas and Tennessee to the bottom dwellers’ category.
Interestingly, both the Vols and the Hogs are now on their third coach since the expansion season of 2012. Both have been mired in chaos for the last six seasons.
Because of the numbers, when one team rises, one must fall and there’s always a gaggle of teams in the 5-3 to 3-5 range.
Morris’ goal is to have the Hogs higher than that, which will mean he has improved the program beyond what history tells us it does.
