To no one's surprise, Arkansas football picked last in 2026 SEC

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It's not a surprise, but it's still something which should make Arkansas football fans angry. The Razorbacks were officially picked to finish dead last, 16th, in the SEC preseason poll coming right after SEC media days in Tampa.

It's not unfair. Arkansas was 2-10 last season and is facing a cutthroat SEC football schedule in 2026. The Razorbacks have a first-year head coach with a dramatically retooled roster. They are unproven and are beginning a rebuild. Of course it makes sense they would be picked last, and of course it's logical to not think Arkansas will amount to much this season.

The anger Arkansas football fans should feel is not about the poll itself, but what the poll reflects: a program which is starting over. This wasn't supposed to happen again. The anger is not connected to Ryan Silverfield or this 2026 team; it is and should be focused on allowing the house to fall down a second time after the first occurrence under Chad Morris. Why did the program slip into disrepair again? This simply cannot and should not happen at a program with Arkansas' history and pedigree.

Arkansas competed for national titles in the 1960s and 1970s. It was an SWC contender for most of the 1980s. It made multiple SEC Championship Game appearances in its first 15 years as an SEC school. Ole Miss, as a point of comparison, has still never made a trip to the SEC title game, and Mississippi State has gone to Atlanta only once. Even just a few years ago, Sam Pittman had Arkansas in the SEC mix. Why did it all crumble so quickly from that point onward?

Ryan Silverfield will need time, space and patience to get this thing right at Arkansas. Only the most wildly optimistic fans would dare predict a bowl game this year. The realistic target is 4-8 with 5-7 possibly being the best-case scenario against a schedule this tough. Arkansas is likely looking at needing two years to get back to a bowl game, from which point the program can recruit and portal at an even higher level and then entertain visions of being an eight- or nine-win program at the end of the 2020s.

As Arkansas tackles the 2026 SEC football season, being picked 16th in the conference should be a reminder to never allow such erosion to happen again. Hopefully everyone associated with this program will take much better care of it in the future.

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