During 2015 SEC Media Days, the media projected the Arkansas Razorbacks to finish fourth in the SEC West, behind Alabama, Auburn and LSU.

SEC media preseason predictions are notoriously inaccurate. Many expect Arkansas to end the season much higher than fourth in the division. Most notably, ESPN College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks that Arkansas has a chance to win the SEC West.

Having Herbstreit in your corner is a good start, but if your team is facing the second-toughest schedule in the nation as calculated by the NCAA, how good are your chances really? Can Arkansas not only overpower Alabama and Auburn, but survive 2015 with a winning record?

Analyzing Arkansas’s 2015 schedule, here’s a closer look:

FAVORABLE MATCHUPS

Arkansas has been blessed with three relatively easy non-conference games to start 2015, which will give the Razorbacks plenty of game time to stretch their legs and get settled before launching into conference play. Unfortunately almost all their conference matchups will be tough ones, preventing us from granting them definitive wins. As of August, Missouri is the only SEC team on the home schedule that has major rebuilding to do this season, making them a target for easy dismantling.

  • vs. UTEP, Sept. 5
  • vs. Toledo, Sept. 12
  • vs. Texas Tech, Sept. 19
  • vs. UT-Martin, Oct. 31
  • vs. Missouri, Nov. 27

BIGGEST GAMES

If Arkansas wants to pull ahead of the likes of Alabama and Auburn in the standings, it must prove that it’s the better team. Alabama and Auburn come at Arkansas back-to-back with a crucial bye week in between. Not only will Arkansas have that week to rest up, the Razorbacks get the Tigers on their own turf, which could make all the difference. And if Arkansas wants to be perceived as a serious contender for the division, LSU is a must-win.

  • at Alabama, Oct. 10
  • vs. Auburn, Oct. 24
  • at LSU, Nov. 14

ROUGH PATCH

Arkansas’ schedule is so full of rough patches it’s hard to pick just one. Teams usually are most unstable early in the season when new players are still gaining experience and kinks are still being ironed out. For that reason, Weeks 4-6 are the games highlighted here. Arkansas will be traveling from Texas A&M to Tennessee to Alabama, and all three of those teams seem nearly ready for the season aside from a few personnel questions here and there.

  • at Texas A&M, Sept. 26
  • at Tennessee, Oct. 3
  • at Alabama, Oct. 10

TOUGHEST TILT

Arkansas’s game against Alabama will be the hardest on the schedule for three main reasons: First, it’s Alabama. Second, the game is in Tuscaloosa. Third, the game against Alabama sits at the end of the rough patch we just discussed. The Razorbacks will have been traveling for three consecutive weeks, and will be physically depleted after facing off against Texas A&M and Tennessee. Morale also could play a huge part in Arkansas’ performance; if either Texas A&M or Tennessee beats the Razorbacks, they will enter Tuscaloosa feeling a slight loss of purpose. Even if they manage an undefeated season until that point, Arkansas will be running on sheer willpower by the end of the Alabama game.

SEASON-DEFINING STRETCH

  • Nov. 7 – Nov. 27

When your entire schedule looks like a nightmare, how you finish the season is how you determine the way people remember you. Razorbacks fans will be disappointed if their team doesn’t beat Alabama or Auburn this year, but losing those games is more or less expected at this point. In other words, losing those games is excusable. If Arkansas is able to finish out the year with four straight solid conference wins — including one over LSU — the conversation then becomes how Arkansas rallied, how the program came together as a team and finished the season strong. That tone and mindset becomes invaluable going into the offseason and toward recruiting.