If you grew up with a grandfather, like mine, who liked to watch Hee-Haw, you might be able to recall the poor farmers on the show singing how if they didn't have bad luck, they would have no luck at all. I can still recall the lyrics of "Gloom, despair, and agony on me." I've been thinking about those Hee-Haw farmers lately in regard to the Hogs. Players kicked off the team or transferring, head coach kicked off the team, players suspended for alleged thievery - likely to be kicked off the team, and we all hold our breath every time Knile Davis takes a walk down a flight of stairs. What next? Right? This all in the year that people thought the Hogs could contend for a national championship, what with both Alabama and LSU coming to Fayetteville, and Tyler Wilson back and ready to set more passing records.
FEEL GOOD MOVIE SCENARIO: In this scenario the Hogs overcome all their obstacles as mentioned above, including a few new ones most likely, to reach Miami and the national championship game - where they win it. All the news would be about how this program picked itself up, didn't ever give up, believed in one another, and in the end won it all, even having upset the 1980 Russian hockey team along the way in the form of the Crimson Tide. There's probably a scene before the credits of Tyler Wilson proposing to his girlfriend while holding the crystal ball trophy. Are the football gods setting us up for this type of scenario? OR
MAYAN DOOM SCENARIO: If the planet wants to survive, in this scenario it needs to root against the Hogs throughout the season. For a 13-0 Razorback team going into December 21st, what with our luck, "Gloom, despair, and agony on me," seems to only invite the possibility of the world ending in doom before the national championship game even takes place. Say a giant tsunami wipes out southern Florida entirely. Fayetteville and the Ozarks are flattened in some fashion. The poles shift and the states of the Southeastern Conference somehow end up in Bangor, Maine! But, the one positive is at least the Hogs would still be SEC Champions and likely to reign as such forever. For the last dog has died, and college football in the aftermath is played only in the memories of a few unfortunate survivors. OR
THE MORE LIKELY SCENARIO: The Hogs' defense isn't able to carry the magic and intensity of what it showed in the Cotton Bowl all season long. Paul Petrino doesn't do any better against Nick Saban's defense than his brother did. The Tide leave Fayetteville with a win on their way to another national championship game victory. Without the comfort of Jerry World, the Hogs drop a winnable game down in College Station. National Championship hopes are crushed. Hogs take another loss on the SEC road, but finish the season with a win over LSU. December 21st turns out to be just another shopping day before Christmas. At 9-3, the Hogs get to visit Arlington again for the Cotton Bowl or one of the Florida bowls, which are all well above water. They might even win the bowl game.
The future, as it always is, remains to be seen. But that doesn't stop us from pondering it here in May. Who could have foreseen at the end of the Cotton Bowl that Bobby Petrino would never coach another Razorback football game? One thing that is rather steady with Razorback football, and that is the fact that it is rarely boring, right? If you have some predictions for the upcoming year, please share them with us in the comment section. Hee Haw and Woo Pig Sooie!