Like it is

25 SEC years good for summer's worth of fun

Arkansas head football coach Houston Nutt, left, laughs with athletic director Frank Broyles during freshman practice at the Walker Pavilion in Fayetteville, Ark., in this Aug. 13, 2002 file photo. (AP Photo/April L. Brown, File)
Arkansas head football coach Houston Nutt, left, laughs with athletic director Frank Broyles during freshman practice at the Walker Pavilion in Fayetteville, Ark., in this Aug. 13, 2002 file photo. (AP Photo/April L. Brown, File)

It was an idea anyone would like to take the credit for, but our man Tom Murphy thought of it and therefore all credit goes to him -- although a whole team almost immediately went to work on the Silver Anniversary of the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC.

A panel of 15 looked over every football game the Razorbacks have played since the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville joined the SEC and voted on the top 25 games.

Murphy got the dubious honor of tabulating the votes and coming up with the top 25, and next Sunday the project begins to unfold in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

However, we also want to know the opinion of our readers, and we are going to label your top picks something like Reader's Choice or Fan Favorites.

Please vote -- complete instructions will be in next Sunday's paper -- and votes can be sent via email or by mail.

The last quarter of a century has been a wild ride for the Razorbacks.

It all started with Frank Broyles' vision, which was questioned at the time, to move the Hogs from the Southwest Conference to a world known as the SEC, where football is Saturday's religion.

Not long after Arkansas left the SWC, the conference merged with the Big Eight -- but the Big Eight, outside of the University of Texas, was the supreme ruler.

A few years ago, Texas A&M leaped out of the shadow of the Burned Oranges and joined the SEC. Missouri did as well, and the two schools secured their financial future for years to come, thanks in large part to former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive developing the SEC Network.

Jeff Long is only the second athletic director at Arkansas in the past 25 years, but there have been seven head football coaches.

Oddly enough, the Razorbacks first head football coach as a member of the SEC never coached a conference game. Jack Crowe was fired the inaugural season after a season-opening loss to The Citadel.

Joe Kines was named interim head coach and should forever be remembered for going into Tennessee and starting a freshman quarterback and getting the victory. That quarterback is Barry Lunney Jr., who now coaches tight ends at the UA.

Kines called an old friend to help as a consultant, and Danny Ford arrived dipping and demanding more running and less passing.

Kines was not retained, and after a campuswide search Ford was promoted. Even though his recruiting improved each year, he wasn't a good fit and eventually was fired. Houston Nutt, who played football and basketball for the Razorbacks for two years before transferring to Oklahoma State, was hired.

Nutt had a good run but as it often does, the fan base fractured. He was released with a couple of extra million bucks and signed on to coach Ole Miss the next day.

Nutt was replaced by Bobby Petrino, one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the game, but he was hard to manage and canned after not leveling with his bosses about a motorcycle wreck.

The wheels almost came off under John L. Smith, but a nationwide search brought a true Big Ten champion in Bret Bielema to campus.

Now, that's just a history of the coaching because the purpose here was not to try and persuade anyone how to vote.

In all honesty, the game yours truly voted No. 1 was chosen No. 3 by the panel. This is about summer football fun, not who is right or wrong.

There were incredible wins, heartbreaking losses and all are part of the Razorbacks SEC history.

Your vote and the one by the panel are for fun and to have a little football to discuss during the dog days of summer.

Sports on 05/28/2017

Upcoming Events