HawgBeat - Arkansas rises in ESPN FPI despite loss to Alabama
The Arkansas Razorbacks moved up one spot in the ESPN FPI despite their loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.
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The Arkansas Razorbacks (2-5, 0-4 SEC) dropped their 17th game in a row to the No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1, 4-0 SEC) on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
It was a tale of two halves for the Hogs, who scored 15 points and gained 152 yards in the second half after only scoring three points and collecting 98 yards in the first two quarters.
Unlike the Razorbacks, Alabama recorded 415 yards of total offense thanks to a 238-yard passing performance from starting quarterback Jalen Milroe and a combined 191 yards from running backs Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Jamarion Miller.
Still, Arkansas' defense did a solid job at preventing a talented offense from dominating on that side of the football, as the Crimson Tide scored fewer points than they did against Middle Tennessee State (56), Mississippi State (40) and Texas A&M (26) and the same amount as they did against Texas and Ole Miss.
Following the defeat, the Hogs rose in the rankings in one of ESPN's top predictive metrics for college football.
After rising four spots to No. 32 following a 27-20 loss to Ole Miss in Week 6, the Razorbacks ascended one spot to No. 31 off the back of the defeat to Alabama in ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) this week.
Head coach Sam Pittman’s squad now has a 5.3-6.7 projected win total with a 44.2% chance of obtaining six wins during the season. On top of that, Arkansas has a 0% chance of winning the SEC West and a 0% chance of the entire SEC, according to the FPI.
After seven weeks of football, Arkansas fell to No. 51 in the country in efficiency rankings after being as high as No. 40 in Week 2, according to ESPN. This includes a 41.1 (No. 87) offensive rating.
The defensive rating moved down from 72.2 (No. 28) last week to 71.5 (No. 30) this week. The special teams unit also increased its rating, as it rose from 60.9 (No. 36) in Week 6 to 62.2 (No. 32) after the Alabama game.
Compared to the rest of the SEC, the Razorbacks come in at No. 8 (No. 8 last week) in the FPI just above Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Auburn, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Hogs look worse in the efficiency department, slotting in at No. 10 (No. 12 last week) in the SEC above South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
Going into a Week 8 matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs — a team that ranks No. 48 in the FPI and No. 72 in efficiency rating (49.3) — the Razorbacks will likely be facing their easiest opponent since a Week 2 matchup with Kent State.
Arkansas and Mississippi State are set for an 11:00 a.m. CT kickoff on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
