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With conference expansion on the rise, and Texas and Oklahoma set to join the SEC in 2025, much talk has been had about how schedules will take shape.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said during SEC Media Days on Wednesday the three teams he’d like to see as permanent rivals.
“It was fun playing Texas last year,” Pittman said. “Obviously it was one game against them and those things. Have a lot of respect for Coach (Sarkisian) and the Longhorns. Oklahoma would be another rival that would be pretty cool, to be honest with you. If we could play Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, that would be really neat.”
Of course, Arkansas already has the Battle Line Rivalry with Missouri, but with two old Southwest Conference foes set to make the jump to the SEC, more opportunities for renewed rivalries present themselves.
All-time, Oklahoma holds a 9-4-1 series lead over Arkansas. But the two teams have only met three times since Oklahoma left the Southwest Conference in 1926, all of which have been in bowl games.
Older Razorback fans will remember the 1978 Orange Bowl, when a short-handed (by Lou Holtz's own decision) Arkansas team put the hurt on Oklahoma, 31-6. They will also likely remember being on the losing end of an Orange Bowl blowout just nine years later in 1987.
Texas, on the other hand, has a much more storied rivalry with Arkansas. While the Longhorns hold the all-time series record 56-23, Arkansas hasn’t lost to Texas since 2008, a lopsided 52-10 blowout in Austin.
Recent history, however, goes in Arkansas’ favor. A 31-7 beatdown in the 2014 Texas bowl and a 40-21 home win that saw fans storm the field in week two of the 2021 season are what most young fans remember.
All-time, Missouri holds a 9-4 record against Arkansas, and had previously won five straight against the Hogs from 2016 to 2020, but Arkansas got the better of the Tigers last season with a 34-17 victory.
Pittman said Wednesday he was a Sooners fan as a child, growing up in Oklahoma, but once they made the move to eastern Oklahoma, he was all Hog. He said he's ready for the two to make the transition to the SEC.
“We love you, Texas and Oklahoma. Can’t wait for you to come over,” Pittman said. “We got a great place, I don’t know what to tell ‘em.”
