Arkansas Razorbacks News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Predicting which three SEC teams Arkansas will face as permanent rivals

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Jacob Davis | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 7:25 PM ET

Numerous reports were shared Thursday morning that the SEC would soon release each team's three permanent rivals as the league begins a 9-game conference schedule beginning in 2026.

Arkansas hasn't been treated fairly by the scheduling gods over the course of Sam Pittman's six-year tenure, annually playing one of the toughest slates in the country.

That way of thinking isn't going away soon either as the Razorbacks most sensible yearly opponents are usually on the schedule anyway.

Missouri Tigers

Let's get the most obvious opponent likely to be a permanent rival moving forward. Between three different coaches, Missouri has been able to keep its thumb over the Razorbacks in the Battle Line Rivaly and it doesn't truly make sense.

From a historical standpoint, the Tigers were always a second rate school that the Razorbacks never really thought about as Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M seemed to be natural rivals culturally.

Then, once Missouri joined the league and paired them with Arkansas for the season finale, both programs have gone separate directions as coach Eli Drinkwitz has the Tigers in the conversation for the playoffs over he past three seasons.

The Tigers, even in its struggles, still found ways to beat respectable Arkansas teams such as 2016, 2022 and 2024. Whatever it may be for the Razorbacks, coach Sam Pittman better get ready for the long haul because a game that his team has issues getting up for is very likely staying on the schedule moving forward.

Missouri leads the all-time series with Arkansas 11-4, with the Tigers winning eight of the last nine games since 2016.

Texas Longhorns

This rivalry dates back to 1894 with over 80 meetings between the two old Southwest Conference foes.

The Razorbacks (13 conference titles) and Longhorns (64 conference titles) were the standard for excellence in a league, but were polar opposites in representation.

Texas has always been considered a blue blood that represented power, prestige and endless talent. Comparatively, Arkansas played the role of a gritty, blue collar underdog with a chip on its shoulder in every meeting.

In 1969, the schools met what was termed the Game of the Century with then President Richard Nixon in attendance to name the national champion for that season.

While the game has been played sporadically since Arkansas entrance in the SEC in 1992, the Razorbacks have the upperhand in the series with victories in five of the previous eight games.

With Texas in the SEC, it's important to embrace Arkansas' tradition and bring a rivalry from nostalgic feelings to relevance in the minds of college football fans across the country.

Ole Miss Rebels

One of the more entertaining rivalries in college football over the past 20 seasons has to be the Razorbacks and Rebels with 10 of the previous 18 meetings coming down to the wire, including last Saturday's thriller in Oxford.

Due to plenty of controversy, Arkansas' series with Ole Miss was paused following the 1960 meeting which the Rebels won 10-7 in Little Rock.

Lead official Tommy Bell called timeout prior to the Rebels' field goal attempt as kicker Allen Green and his special teams unit did not hear the whistle due to excessive crowd noise and continued with the kick.

The field goal attempt sailed between the goalposts as officials signaled it was good, which led to Arkansas coaches arguing with officials and fights broke out among fans of both schools in the stands.

Then Razorbacks coach Frank Broyles complained about the officiating following the loss and threatened to never play the Ole Miss again.

Once the the series’ contract expired in 1961, Broyles went through on his promise as the only time the two programs met were in the Sugar Bowl in 1963 and 1970. The series was eventually renewed in 1981 with Arkansas leading 25-20.

Epic finishes such as the 4th-and-25 lateral by Hunter Henry in 2015, followed by Jared Cornelius' game winning touchdown in 2016 created pandemonium inside Razorback Stadium.

Even the previous three games on the road at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium have come down to the final possession with Ole Miss finding a way to pull out gutsy wins each time.

The SEC would do college football fans a disservice by not putting at least this game on the docket each year.