The SEC has been thus far held without a victory during the 2021 Bowl Season.

Teams in the conference have played 4 bowl games and lost all 4, with the latest one coming in the Liberty Bowl on Tuesday. That one saw Mississippi State fall to Texas Tech 34-7 in Memphis.

Arkansas will hope to avoid dropping its own bowl game as it faces Penn State in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1. Like several teams, the Razorbacks have seen their share of opt-outs as players have chosen to instead focus on preparing for the NFL Draft.

And opt-outs have certainly had their effect, said Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman on Wednesday.

“Until we get to more teams in the Playoff…you’re going to play a different team,” he said. “It’s going to have the same logo on there, but it’s not the same team that you had during the regular season. I think that’s a little bit what’s happened to the SEC. Maybe not. Maybe they just got beat. I know I’ll catch a lot of heck for saying that for those teams that beat the SEC teams.”

He added that opt-outs or not, the Razorbacks’ priority is beating the Nittany Lions on New Year’s Day.

“For me it’s about preparing our team well enough to go out there and play as good as we possibly can,” he said. “(I) really hadn’t thought much about the SEC being 0-4.”