As a public service to you, the Hog fan, we'll be providing a handy pre-game cheat sheet detailing why you should hate each one of the Razorbacks' opponents this fall. Some weeks will be easier than others...
1. The Rest of the Season Unfolds From Here. In a season full of statement games, we've reached another turning point. Lose to Auburn, and the Hogs fall back into the pack as another team with a bunch of preseason hype that couldn't get it done. Any hopes of an SEC West championship or BCS bowl berth will most definitely be shot, and in fact we'd be lucky to finish any higher than 4th in the division. Ouch. But, should the Razorbacks come away with a win they will have instantly made themselves a major player in all the key races and sent a message that yes, they are most definitely for real. So yeah, a lot is riding on this game.
2. Recruiting. Maybe there just aren't enough good football players in South Alabama, or perhaps the allure of the Natural State is just too much to resist for anyone who spends most of their time in the greater Auburn-Opelika metro area, but whatever the reason the Tiger coaches sure do spend a lot of time in Arkansas. In the process they poached Michael Dyer, our #1 class of 2010 high schooler, and Khiel Frazier, our 2011 #1 (plus current players like Lee Ziemba and Kodi Burns). Not cool.
3. They Think They're Better Than We Are. Yeah, you could say that about plenty of SEC fanbases, but unlike some other teams (like Florida, which has basically owned the Hogs since the beginning of time), Auburn doesn't have much ground to stand on. They like to imagine that they're one of the all-time SEC powers, but as any Crimson Tide supporter will tell you, there's something of a gap there. To us, they're the team that barely has an all-time winning record against the Hogs (10-8-1) and has dropped three of the last four to us. No need for putting on airs, guys, really.
4. War Eagle. Before kickoff on Saturday all the Tiger fans will yell "War Eagle" in unison. No, it doesn't make sense to us either.
5. Gene Chizik's Sideburns, or Lack of Them. Pardon us if this is a little random, but we have an odd fascination with Chizik's complete and utter lack of sideburns. Perhaps he remembers Don Mattingly's hilarious appearance on the Simpsons twenty or so years ago and was moved to imitate that look, but there's almost something pathologically uptight about it.