This will be the final time we pick college football outcomes this season.
We went 5-1 last Saturday to improve our record to 76-22 for the season.
In a state obsessed by the Hog, there hasn’t been enough media attention devoted to the fact that this has been a very good season for most college programs in the state.
Arkansas State won its fourth consecutive game last Saturday, will likely beat South Alabama this week to finish the regular season 8-4 and will head to a bowl game for a ninth consecutive year.
UCA wrapped up a share of the Southland Conference title with a win over Incarnate Word last Friday night in San Antonio, finished the regular season 9-3 and is headed to the FCS playoffs.
UAPB had its first winning season since 2012. The 6-5 record in Cedric Thomas’ second year as head coach represented a marked improvement over last year’s 2-9 campaign.
Ouachita had an undefeated regular season for a second consecutive year, won its third consecutive Great American Conference title, made it to the NCAA Division II playoffs for a third consecutive year and finished 11-1.
Harding made it to the NCAA Division II playoffs for a fourth consecutive year and finished 10-2.
Henderson finished the regular season 9-2 and will play in a bowl game at Texarkana on Dec. 7.
Southern Arkansas finished the regular season 8-3 and will play in a bowl game in Corsicana, Texas, on Dec. 7.
Hendrix, the state’s only NCAA Division III program, finished 7-3.
Lyon, the state’s only NAIA program, also finished 7-3.
Here are the picks for this week’s games:
Missouri 29, Arkansas 27 — This is actually a winnable game for Arkansas as this worst of Razorback seasons comes to a merciful conclusion. Missouri is 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the Southeastern Conference with five consecutive losses. Those losses have been by scores of 21-14 to Vanderbilt (yes, Vanderbilt!), 29-7 to Kentucky, 27-0 to Georgia, 23-6 to Florida and 24-20 to Tennessee. Expect Arkansas’ players to compete hard for Barry Lunney Jr. And there will even be a decent crowd at War Memorial Stadium on Friday to show support for Lunney if it’s not raining hard. It’s time to get this season over with and focus on the coaching search.
Arkansas State 31, South Alabama 21 — It wasn’t easy, but the Red Wolves held on for a 38-33 victory over Georgia Southern last Saturday in Jonesboro. Things looked bad on that Thursday night in October when ASU fell to 3-4 following a 37-20 loss at home to Louisiana-Lafayette. But the Red Wolves have responded with wins over Texas State (38-14), Louisiana-Monroe (48-41), Coastal Carolina (28-27) and Georgia Southern. With former UCA head coach Steve Campbell at the helm, South Alabama has struggled to a 1-10 record. The lone victory was by a score of 37-14 over Jackson State from the SWAC way back on Sept. 7. The losses have been by scores of 35-21 to Nebraska, 42-6 to Memphis, 35-3 to Alabama-Birmingham, 30-17 to Louisiana-Monroe, 20-17 to Georgia Southern, 37-13 to Troy, 30-3 to Appalachian State, 30-28 to Texas State, 37-27 to Louisiana-Lafayette and 28-15 to Georgia State. Don’t expect many fans to be on hand for a Friday afternoon game in Mobile.