Early in July, Booger McFarland and Greg McElroy predicted their SEC West top 5. Arkansas landed fourth.
However, other media outlets have slated Arkansas anywhere from third to sixth in the division. Some are still concerned the Razorbacks defensive line is not enough after the departure of their stars last year. Some believe Brandon Allen will have his best season yet because of the development of the Arkansas wide receivers.
SEC analysts Clint Stoerner and Marcus Spears recently got together to predict Arkansas’ record for the 2015 season. They started with some sure-wins already on the board before they got into the games in contention:
- vs. UTEP
- vs. Toledo
- vs. Texas Tech
- vs. Tennessee-Martin
- vs. Mississippi State
Noteworthy among these is the Mississippi State matchup, the sole conference game among non-conference cupcakes. While Stoerner and Spears didn’t provide reasons why they both think Arkansas will beat Mississippi State, one would have to imagine the reasoning sounds something like Dak Prescott and his offensive line getting overwhelmed by the Arkansas defense.
Below are the matchups which were harder to decide:
Sept. 26 — Arkansas vs. Texas A&M
Predicted result: Win
Spears: “This was a close game last year. I just feel like Arkansas is going to get this one. They were a first down away from taking this game further, and they couldn’t get it done. I think they get it done this year.”
Oct. 3 — Arkansas at Tennessee
Predicted result: Win
Stoerner: “Two very similar football teams. I think Arkansas is probably a little bit further along with that experience at quarterback, that depth at defensive line.”
Oct. 10 — Arkansas at Alabama
Predicted result: Loss
Spears: “I don’t know if Brandon Allen has turned that corner yet to make enough effective throws to beat Alabama. Alabama will be ready for the run game. They were ready last year. That’s why I give Alabama the slight edge.”
Oct. 24 — Auburn at Arkansas
Predicted result: Win
Stoerner: “Arkansas coming off a bye week is typically pretty good. There’s a lot of unknown about Auburn right now, contrary to popular belief. I like Arkansas in that game.”
Spears: “Auburn right now has to get over the hump and it would take my credibility away for saying they’ll win the West and lose to Arkansas.”
Spears basing his pick on not losing his credibility (while acknowledging that Auburn does have weaknesses) meant the analysts were split. Moderator Peter Burns broke the tie by siding with Stoerner, agreeing that Arkansas will be in its prime coming off a bye week.
Nov. 7 — Arkansas at Ole Miss
Predicted result: Win
Spears: “Ole Miss is a team that you really don’t know how they going to stand up against the run game. They’ve struggled.”
Nov. 14 — Arkansas at LSU
Predicted result: Loss
Stoerner: “LSU on the road, much like Alabama, it’s too tough.”
Nov. 27 — Missouri at Arkansas
Predicted result: Win
Spears: “Always scary with Missouri. But this run game will be too vaunted, too many losses up on that D-line.”
Final Predicted Record: 10-2
Christine Wang is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. She covers Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
