Hogs Football
How Arkansas is still a Top 25 program all-time in AP poll rankings
Looking back at Razorback history, it may be surprising to some they are still one of top programs
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It was interesting to see where Arkansas stands in ranking the Top 100 football programs of all time in the Associated Press poll.
Surprisingly, they rank No. 21 overall in the poll. Young Razorback fans will find that surprising. Us old guys that have been around Arkansas for over 60 years remember when they were in the Top 10 nearly every year. You started with the summer magazines seeing where the Hogs were picked in the Top 10.
Our friends over at Bama Central do this every year and I’m always surprised at where the Razorbacks are ranked considering it’s been about 35 years since they were ranked high consistently.
The last time the Hogs finished a season ranked in the Top 25 was in 2021 when they finished, interestingly enough, No. 21. That was it in the Sam Pittman era.
Before then, you had to go back to the 2011 season to find Arkansas at No. 5 in the final polls and No. 12 in 2010. You have to go back to Ken Hatfield’s next-to-last team for them to be ranked No. 12 in the final polls.
The glory years were the years from 1975-79 when the Hogs finished 7 (1975), 3 (1977), 11 (1978) and 8 (1979). Most of those years the only losses were teams that finished in the Top 5. Before that was the decade of the 1960’s when the Hogs finished in the Top 10 six times.
Here’s the top 100 through the 2024 season:
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
Top 20 |
Top 10 |
Top 5 |
1st |
2nd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Ohio State |
1,034 |
63 |
44 |
30 |
6 |
8 |
|
2 |
Alabama |
1,030 |
62 |
49 |
31 |
13 |
5 |
|
3 |
Oklahoma |
981.5 |
60 |
45 |
33 |
6 |
4 |
|
4 |
Notre Dame |
901.5 |
60 |
40 |
26 |
8 |
6 |
|
5 |
Michigan |
892 |
62 |
41 |
18 |
3 |
2 |
|
6 |
Texas |
699 |
46 |
29 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
|
7 |
USC |
691 |
53 |
28 |
19 |
5 |
5 |
|
8 |
Nebraska |
638 |
43 |
30 |
13 |
4 |
2 |
|
9 |
Penn State |
637 |
46 |
29 |
15 |
2 |
3 |
|
10 |
Georgia |
633 |
40 |
28 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
|
11 |
Tennessee |
608 |
43 |
25 |
13 |
2 |
4 |
|
12 |
LSU |
597 |
44 |
23 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
|
13 |
Florida State |
578 |
32 |
20 |
17 |
3 |
2 |
|
14 |
Florida |
501 |
31 |
19 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
|
15 |
Auburn |
479 |
36 |
19 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
|
16 |
Miami (Fla.) |
478 |
31 |
15 |
10 |
5 |
4 |
|
17 |
Clemson |
463 |
34 |
14 |
8 |
3 |
3 |
|
18 |
Michigan State |
406.5 |
28 |
18 |
9 |
1 |
4 |
|
19 |
UCLA |
383 |
32 |
17 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
|
20 |
Washington |
348 |
25 |
13 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
|
21 |
Arkansas |
333 |
28 |
14 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
|
22 |
Texas A&M |
331.5 |
27 |
13 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
|
23 |
Ole Miss |
329.5 |
26 |
13 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
|
24 |
Wisconsin |
328 |
22 |
14 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
25 |
Oregon |
312.5 |
18 |
12 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
|
26 |
Iowa |
303 |
24 |
14 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
27 |
TCU |
295 |
18 |
12 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
|
28 |
Georgia Tech |
262.5 |
22 |
11 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
|
29 |
Stanford |
257 |
20 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
|
30 |
Pittsburgh |
235 |
19 |
10 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
|
31 |
Colorado |
228 |
20 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
|
32 |
Missouri |
212.5 |
18 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
33 |
Virginia Tech |
212 |
15 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
34 |
Arizona State |
205.5 |
17 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
35 |
Kansas State |
196 |
13 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
36 |
Minnesota |
191 |
17 |
10 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
|
37 |
Oklahoma State |
190 |
17 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
38 |
Army |
186 |
15 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
|
39 |
BYU |
178 |
15 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
40 |
North Carolina |
174 |
18 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Boise State |
174 |
11 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
42 |
Baylor |
173.5 |
17 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
43 |
Maryland |
167.5 |
17 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Syracuse |
167.5 |
14 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
45 |
Navy |
165.5 |
14 |
8 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
|
46 |
California |
163 |
12 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
|
(tie) |
West Virginia |
163 |
16 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
48 |
Houston |
159.5 |
16 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
49 |
Utah |
152 |
11 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
50 |
Illinois |
147 |
12 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
51 |
Northwestern |
141 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
52 |
Purdue |
133.5 |
15 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
53 |
Duke |
133 |
16 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
54 |
SMU |
131 |
12 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
55 |
Boston College |
119.5 |
10 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
56 |
Washington State |
114 |
10 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
57 |
South Carolina |
113 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
58 |
Louisville |
108 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
59 |
Oregon State |
104 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
60 |
Mississippi State |
92.5 |
12 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
61 |
Texas Tech |
84 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Cincinnati |
84 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
N.C. State |
84 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
64 |
Kansas |
79 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
65 |
Kentucky |
78 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
66 |
Arizona |
73 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
67 |
Indiana |
71 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
68 |
Tulane |
67.5 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
69 |
Rice |
66 |
8 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
70 |
Pennsylvania |
60 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
71 |
Air Force |
59 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
72 |
Central Florida |
58 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Fordham |
58 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
74 |
Virginia |
56 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
75 |
Santa Clara |
55 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
76 |
Tulsa |
49 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
77 |
Miami (Ohio) |
48 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
78 |
Cornell |
43 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
79 |
Dartmouth |
35 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Princeton |
35 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
81 |
Iowa Pre-Flight |
34 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
(tie) |
Yale |
34 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
83 |
Wyoming |
33 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
84 |
Duquesne |
31 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Colorado State |
31 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Iowa State |
31 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
87 |
Utah State |
27 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
88 |
Holy Cross |
26.5 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
89 |
Villanova |
26 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
90 |
Rutgers |
25 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Southern Miss |
25 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
92 |
Louisiana |
23 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Wake Forest |
22 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
94 |
March Field |
22 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Marshall |
21 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
96 |
Brainbridge NTS |
20 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
97 |
Great Lakes |
19 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
98 |
Randolph Field |
18 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
William & Mary |
18 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
East Carolina |
18 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
(tie) |
Toledo |
18 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Contrast that with the last 20 years have seen Arkansas now on their 14th coach, including interim coaches. Current interim coach Bobby Petrino is now the head coach for the second time in that period.
If the next coach is anybody but Petrino, he will be the 15th coach. That’s hard for stability, but it is an overall Top 25 program.
