Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/15/2011 at 12:42pm

As the Southeastern Conference collectively prepares itself for the media Thunder Dome in Hoover, Ala., next week, the coaches gave the media a little taste of fall. (Or maybe their assistants filled out the forms for them.)

In what has been a week of time-released award watch lists and preseason all-conference teams, Arkansas has made an impressive showing across the board. The coaches selected 13 different Razorbacks to 14 positions on the All-SEC coaches teams. (Joe Adams, was selected twice.) Perhaps one of the most intriguing omissions is Tyler Wilson. While not surprising, given his lack of experience, there is no denying the impact Wilson will have on the Hogs’ success this coming season. Wilson will likely end up being the most influential player for the Razorbacks this coming season, but as with all things in the SEC, he must prove his worth first.

Alabama was second with 13 selections, but led the way in the SEC with seven first team selections. But given the fact Arkansas has significantly more All-SEC players than everyone else according to the league’s coaches, media members nationally have yet to start viewing the Razorbacks as a team to beat in the SEC West next season. While LSU and Alabama are almost unanimously top five teams heading into the preseason, Arkansas is left out of the top 10 entirely.

It’s tough to buck the stigma reinforced by decades of inconsistency from the Razorback football program. Whether or not those days are over for good remains to be seen, and honestly to believe they are is unrealistic, but Bobby Petrino has certainly brought a level of competence to the program that has been missing since the seventies.

This year, the Razorbacks are a team to be reckoned with. With uncharacteristic depth, Arkansas had more players selected to the All-SEC coaches preseason team than ever before. It is apparent that while many are ready to give Arkansas a lot of respect when it comes to ranking their overall talent level in the SEC, most are reluctant to forget the past. “Go with what you know,” may as well be the national media motto when it comes to picking the SEC West, even though Arkansas finished ahead of both LSU and Alabama last season in the final standings; what the national media knows is Alabama and LSU.

This is not an argument in support of picking Arkansas to win a national title, only to state that dismissing Arkansas from contention for the SEC and by extension a national title is extremely short-sighted and borderline obtuse. All three teams are legitimate 10 preseason selections.

I caution those who doubt the Razorbacks’ ability to compete this coming season - not simply because they had more All-SEC selections, or because they led Alabama through three and a half quarters last season, or because they were two scores better than LSU on the scoreboard and three scores better on the field - but because history, while important, can often be misleading. Arkansas isn’t the same program that joined the SEC two decades ago. They are no longer the scrappy SWC outcast turned scrappy SEC outcast. For nearly its entire lifespan, Arkansas has been the program that didn’t belong. Finally, it would seem Arkansas is built to compete in the SEC on a consistent basis, which is what separates the SEC from every other conference in America; the conference is founded upon great consistency from its programs.

If Arkansas’ earned respect from coaches around the conference is an indication of anything, its that the SEC has made Arkansas a better program.

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TJ Carpenter is host of The TJ Carpenter Show on The Hog Sports Radio Network from noon to 2 pm.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, All-SEC, SEC Media Days, Southeastern Conference