Ask Mike: Panning the Media Days Poll, More Super Division Talk & Will Arkansas Ever Win the SEC in Football?

Q. Our first question is from who Lanny asks: What’s your evaluation of Pittman, Green, Armstrong and Jackson at Media Days? Did they help sell Arkansas to their fans?

A. I like the way you put that because I don’t think Pittman and his players needed to sell opposing fans on Arkansas. Historically this team is better off when it flies under the radar. Their job was to assure Razorback fans that this program is not in big trouble. There are some Hog fans who don’t want to hear anything they have to say. They want Pittman gone and they’re doing to poo poo anything that was said. But reading a lot of the comments on X and Facebook I think a lot of Arkansas fans liked what they said. They buy into the notion that this team has largely been rebuilt from a year ago with a new offensive coordinator, a new offensive line coach and a roster that was restocked though the portal at several key positions, like quarterback, running back and the offensive line. The real purpose of Media Days for Pittman and those three players was to sell season tickets and get the rest of the fans to buy in by watching games on TV. I thought all three were impressive. They were low key but provided valid reasons for their optimism.

Q. Mousetown says: You said that in Dallas Pittman would do a good job of accepting responsibility for last season. That he would lay out his mistakes and explain what he’s done to correct them. That honesty is his best asset. So is that what happened?

Q. Yes and just like I predicted some Arkansas fans got all over him again for the mistakes he admitted to making. I still think he took he right approach and I never thought he would do otherwise because Sam Pittman doesn’t try to snowball the media or the fans. I like the fact that he doesn’t PR his way through press conferences. It’s one of his best qualities.

I thought he was good in front of the writers but later, when he sat with the SEC Network guys. he flat won them over. You had four ex-players on that panel and when he started talking football he sucked them right into the conversation. For at least a half hour after he left they were still talking about him and what he said. I think Pittman sold them on the idea that this football program is in a lot better shape than they realized.

Q. Hawgredneck says: You and Alyssa disagreed last week about Petrino and Media Days. You said he would be flying under the radar and the media would be sleeping on him. She said his name would come up a lot. She was right.

A. She was. Our Pig Trail reporters at Media Days told me that most non Arkansas media they spoke two seemed to know only two things about Arkansas, that Sam Pittman was on the hot seat and that Bobby Petrino was trying to rebuild the offense. They couldn’t name Arkansas’ quarterback, starting running back or any of the receivers. When Pittman and his players began making reference to the job Petrino did this past spring the media responded with a lot of questions about him.

Q. Armon Abbe wants to know: Were there any big surprises from Media Days? Something that had you going WHAT??? For me it was Dorkowitz. The guy wasn’t his usual annoying self. If he was like this more often I would probably stop calling him Dorkowitz.

A. He explained it. When a team is the hunter it does things to get under the skin of its opponents. Trash talk a little bit. Use psychology. When you are the hunted you become low key. You don’t have to prove as much. You don’t want to do things the tick off opponent because you already have the edge. I do agree that this version of Missouri’s head coach is actually sort of likeable. We’ll see if it’s permanent.

Q. Pigsfeat says: The SEC media voted Arkansas 14th out of 16 and only included one player on the All-SEC list. Are the Hogs really that talent poor?

A. Historically the Media Poll at SEC Media Days is not something fans should rely on and I don’t think many do. They’ll usually get the top two or three team right but after that most of those people just look at where a team finished last year and go with that again. Also way too many of them pick the team they cover higher than they should. When it comes to players many of them don’t know many of the names of preseason SEC candidates. So the SEC office provides them with a list. Apparently Landon Jackson was the only Arkansas name on that list.

Finally, not all of the media at Media Days are real media. Some of them just create their own website on the Internet, give it a name and request a pass to get it. The SEC doesn’t worry much about that. Media Days is all about publicity. The more people involved the bigger it makes the SEC look.

Q. Iwastherein1969 asks: Given the 16 team format in SEC football, do you think the Arkansas Razorbacks ever win an SEC title now?

A. I can’t say when but yes, with the right head coach it will happen. Some thought that Eddie Sutton represented Arkansas’ best chance to win a national title in basketball and when he left that was it in their minds. Then along came Nolan.

Before John McDonnell, Arkansas had never won a single track championship in the SWC. John won so many the fans lost count. In any sport it’s all about hiring the right head coach.

Q. Hogdogger wants to know: How is the SEC commissioner chosen and who decides? Do they have requirements? Could a coach like Saban or an AD like Yurachek be considered? Is their tenure as commissioner lifetime or is there a limit?

A. The chancellors and school presidents of the member schools approve the hiring of the conference commissioner. That commissioner answers to them. He/she is given a contract and they are responsible for renewing that contract. The commissioner of the SEC has typically been a commissioner of a smaller conference or has worked under the current SEC commissioner.

Q. parallaxpig says: Lots of conversation about the future of college football. One topic is a CFB draft. I personally think that’s where we end up and it will be some type of “hybrid draft” with 17 draft picks per team. The remaining team members would go thru the current recruiting/walk-on process. This could be a significant amount of money for 17 players. Each player drafted would sign a 2-3 year contract which would allow them to be traded to other teams or be cut by current team at end of that contract.

A. Taken point by point, I don’t think we’ll ever see a draft of high school players. The main point of a so caller super conference would be to get the payment of student athletes equalized so that the courts would allow NCAA rules to prevent such payments to bit for players in recruiting. Eliminate so called bidding for players.
The notion that some athletes would be plaid substantial money by a school but others would have normal scholarships without a salary is what they’re trying to get away from. I can’t see that happening.

I do think some of the higher profile recruits would be allowed to be paid NIL money through an agent for services to a business but this could not be done in the recruiting process. Such NIL deals could only be worked out after an athlete is on scholarship at a particular school.

Finally I think the contract signed by players will be simple. You get paid by the school a long as you are in good academic standing and as long as you are not dismissed for cause. If you decide to transfer to another school you would have to sit out a year with either no salary or a reduced amount. A school could decide to release an athlete to another super division school. In that instance the athlete would not have to sit out and could continue to be paid by his new school.

Q. WVHogfan asks: After the MLB draft, new recruiting class, transfers in and out; what does the baseball roster look like for the coming season?

A. It looks very good. Probably the best two developments were the return of right fielder Kendall Diggs who should have a great senior year now that his should has been surgically repaired and the decision by incoming freshmen Carson Wiggens to enroll and play for Arkansas. Also a decision by pitcher Will McEntire to return for a sixth season could be big both in leadership and the experience he brings.

In the transfer portal Dave Van Horn has added outfielders and infielders at every position where there’s a need, guys who can hit for average and drive in runs while running the bases well. Small ball type players. But there are also some decent home run hitters in that group. He also added a JUCO catcher who batted over .500.

They are bringing in two of the top pitchers in the portal and another pitcher who is highly regarded but sat out last season due to surgery.

In additionn several of the team’s returning players are having a good summer ball seasons. Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy was leading the Cape Cod League halfway though. He decided to take the rest of the summer off. Teammate Ryder Helfrick, who struggled at the plate as a true freshmen, is the new Cape Cod League home run leader. He’s having a fantastic summer.

I can’t wait to see this new Arkansas team in Fall Ball in a couple of months. DVH just keeps reloading

Q. Eddylynn wants to know: With this proposed super division of college athletics could current conferences be split up with new conferences created? I’d love to see the old SWC back with OU OSU added.

A. A lot of people believe that with 64 teams involved those teams would go into four 16 team conferences. So you’d have the SEC, the Big 12, The ACC and the B1G. if so there would be no new conferences. It would simply by a matter of which teams get in to each one.

But if the huge TV money involved were to be split equally among all 64 teams then it would make more sense to reorganize those teams geographically. That would reduce travel costs and reduce the distance that fans would have to travel to road games.

So imagine we have 8 conferences of 8 teams each. So each team would play 7 conference games and 5 nonconference games with teams in the other 7 conferences.
If we’re talking geography how about Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, OU, OSU & Arkansas?