The first batch of ESPN’s Football Power Index ratings for the 2024 season have been released and to little surprise, the SEC is the best football conference in the land.
That’s not great news for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks do reap the benefits of gigantic media deals, certainly, and with Texas and Oklahoma in the SEC now, too, things on that front are likely only to get better. The chances Arkansas finds consistent SEC success, however, are only lowered.
ESPN’s FPI agrees. Arkansas’ overall rank of 44th is greater than most FBS teams, certainly, but lower-middle for power-conference teams. And in the SEC itself, the Hogs are just 14th out of the 16 teams. Only Mississippi State (No. 49) and Vanderbilt (No. 78), the perpetual SEC football bottom-feeder, are lower. In fact, 44th is even worse than it looks when considering only five SEC teams were not ranked inside the top 20.
Commonly, fans with positive outlooks will counter that “the only rankings that matter are the ones at the end of the season.” But the FPI isn’t a traditional ranking system. It slots teams based on overall strength, of quantative numbers, not qualatative feel. And with that many teams in front of Arkansas in its own conference, the odds are stronger the Razorbacks finish below .500 than above.
Here’s how the SEC looks overall.
1. Georgia
Online Athens
3. Texas
Texas Longhorn offensive linemen Kelvin Banks (#78) works out during their second day of preseason practice at the Denius Fields on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.
5. Alabama
Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
8. Oklahoma
The Oklahoman
9. Tennessee
Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports
10. Missouri
The Columbus Dispatch
13. LSU
John David Mercer-USA TODAY…
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