2025 Arkansas Predictions on the HG
Jake Wimberly
Ross Gaskin Contributing:
What’s to like:
Head Coach Sam Pittman and his Razorbacks are coming off a decent 2024 season where they finished a respectable 7-6. They will be looking for more in 2025 as they have some very key contributors returning this season. The most notable returner being their QB Taylen Green after a season where he passed for 3,154 yards and 15 TDs while rushing for 602 yards and 8 TDs.
On the other side of the ball, the Razorbacks will have their two best LBs returning for another season. Linebackers Xavian Sorey Jr. and Stephen Dix Jr. are the leaders on that Arkansas defense as last season they combined for 171 tackles, 12 TFLs, 4 sacks, and 1 INT. Arkansas will also have some serious talent joining them through the transfer portal, but it will be their returning stars that will lead the team.
What’s not to like:
Even though last season was pretty solid for Arkansas, there are still plenty of things not to like about these Razorbacks heading into the 2025 campaign. The main thing that is going to hurt the Razorbacks is that they only have 5 returning starters, 1 on offense and 4 on defense, with a lot of players transferring. The biggest hit they took from the portal was the O-line and the defense.
Another thing that could back and bite them is that their 2024 offensive and defensive efficiencies were not great. Their offensive efficiency was ranked 41st in the country and defensive efficiency was ranked 29th in the country. With a lot of their key guys leaving the team, these numbers could potentially drop drastically.
What does the Hourglass say?
Arkansas- SEC (4-8)
Power ranking 90.87. 6th toughest schedule in the SEC.
2025 Arkansas Analytics
National recruiting rating (three year metric): #23- inside the boundary of a National Championship Roster.
National Coaching Ranking:
Sam Pittman- 69th in Power 5 and 16th in the SEC.
2024 coaching value= 1 (average 2025 Power 5 coaching value=9.3) Sam Pittman ranks as one of the worst coaches in college football.
ODE analytics 2024 Nationally:
Offensive Ranking: 41st
Defensive Ranking: 29th
Quarterback Play: Green- ranked 40th in the Power 4, 11th in the SEC; 2024 QB value= 11.5 (Power 4 average- 14.41)
Impact Ball Catcher Metric: Arkansas has an Impact Ball Catcher Metric of 2. This puts the Razorbacks at the lower tier of the SEC in this metric.
From Vegas:
Arkansas ATS in 2024: 8-5
Arkansas at home: 2-4
Arkansas on the road: 3-1
Arkansas neutral site: 3-0
Final Thoughts:
The Razorbacks have certainly had a tough go at it for a while now, and it does not seem like it will end anytime soon. It feels like whenever they make some good progress one season, the next season just falls apart. The Razorbacks will need to lean heavily on their QB Taylen Green and LBs Diz Jr. and Sorey Jr. Arkansas will have to have serious improvements for the next few seasons if they want to get back on track.
2025 Schedule analysis:
Projected Hourglass W/L record: Games in red denote games that could be a one possession game or even a different outcome than projection.
Editors Note: All photos courtesy of 247sports.com
