With all the recent reminiscing about the 2011 college football game between LSU and Alabama, many folks forget about the Southeastern Conference’s third dominant team that season.
On Thanksgiving week of that year, the top three teams in the Associated Press poll were LSU, Alabama and Arkansas. Bobby Petrino’s Razorbacks lost only to the Tigers and Crimson Tide eight years ago, capping an 11-2 season with a Cotton Bowl victory over Kansas State.
LSU and Alabama met last weekend as the top two teams in the AP poll, while Arkansas fired coach Chad Morris following a 45-19 home loss to Western Kentucky.
So what happened?
“I think a lot of it is reflected by the conference,” Arkansas interim coach and former Razorbacks quarterback Barry Lunney said Wednesday. “If there is a conference that has a razor-thin line between winning and losing and a lack of success, it’s our conference and our division. You mentioned 2011, and even a few years ago under Coach (Bret) Bielema, we went 5-3 in the SEC.