FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There has been pushback from some SEC coaches dating back years when the conference discussed moving to a 9-game conference schedule.
Arkansas Razorbacks’ sixth-year coach remains boldly against the move due to personal preference. “The nine-game schedule, certainly, I liked it the way that it was before,” Pittman said during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference.
“Honestly, I wasn’t necessarily for the nine-game schedule. I don’t think many of our coaches were. It just brings another loss to our conference, half of them, brings eight losses to the conference. I understand money talks.”
The SEC’s decision to expand its football schedule from eight to nine conference games starting in 2026 has been met with roars of approval from fans, but Pittman’s words reveal a growing unease behind the scenes, one that’s shared by more than a few of his peers.
Other Power Five conferences, such as the Big Ten, have played nine conference games for a decade already since league expansion started to increase in 2016.
Now, the SEC gets to play a round-robin schedule with an emphasis on the full conference experience that gives student-athletes an opportunity to see every away venue in a 4-year period.
Critics argue that opposing the nine-game schedule reflects a reluctance to embrace growth, which Pittman is doing in his hesitance of conforming to the SEC’s new format.
Commissioner Greg Sankey reinforced a longstanding rule that SEC members must continue scheduling at least one Power Conference opponent or Notre Dame in non-conference play, which the Razorbacks have continued to be compliant with dating back to the 2012 season.
Coaches, like Pittman, know it will benefit fanbases and will drive up ticket sales with one rent-a-win going away beginning in 2026. That means Arkansas will likely hit the delete button on newly scheduled North Alabama, Tulsa or a home game against quality American Conference member Memphis.
Arkansas has benefitted from having four non-conference games in an era when the Razorbacks have been at its lowest point.
Since Pittman’s arrival in 2020, the Razorbacks have been invited to four bowl games, but with the new scheduling format three of his teams wouldn’t have been eligible without the luxury of an extra victory against a non-league opponent.
“I think it will be great for the fans. So, there’s good and bad on both sides, depending on how you’re looking at it. Certainly, we’re keeping our Power Four conference game as well. So, I liked it like it was. We haven’t won the last two national championships,” Pittman said. “But we won a whole bunch of them the way that it was before. So, I liked it the way it was before.”
The SEC’s rationale is clear as more marquee matchups equal more television money which in turn gives teams extra money in revenue.
For Pittman, his Arkansas tenure has been defined by competitive struggles as a first time FBS coach. Whether it be COVID-19 bringing a 10-game all SEC schedule in 2020, NIL in 2021, transformation of the transfer portal and now the move to an extra conference game, there’s been a continual adjustment period that no other Razorbacks coach has ever faced and it isn’t all his fault.
Repeating the phrase, “I like things the way it used to be” is still a cop out for people stuck in their ways. Pittman is stuck in mediocrity at 30-31 overall, 14-28 in the SEC which includes just one winning record in the regular season.
Then, touting other teams successes in an old format when your own program is floundering to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive SEC is definitely an odd hill to die on.
There are at least 12 SEC teams capable of competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff bid this season, with the fight to not lose two league games or face forfeiture of postseason lore.
For Arkansas, the change is both an opportunity and a threat as fans have long complained that their team draws the league’s toughest schedules each season, and Pittman’s tenure has done little to change that perception.
For a program trying to climb from the SEC’s cellar, the margin for error with an extra conference game has widened a bit which should be considered good news.
Now, its up to Arkansas to either adapt, or accept its fate as a perennial doormat for opponents to muck up.