This is not a parade, so no one is raining on it.

This is just a warning.

When the coaches come out with their preseason SEC football predictions next month, do not be surprised if the Arkansas Razorbacks are picked last in the SEC Western Division.

When the media votes are tallied July 18 at SEC media days in Birmingham, Ala., expect the same result, although the Hogs should get a little more respect than Kentucky and Tennessee.

That certainly doesn’t mean the Hogs won’t be improved. They will.

They couldn’t be more disorganized and undisciplined than last season if Bret Bielema were replaced with Aaron Hernandez, who is going to be a little busy this fall trying to prove he’s not a murderer.

What happened to the Hogs was similar to what happened at Louisville after Bobby Petrino left for the Atlanta Falcons. Without Petrino’s iron fist it was almost chaos.

Bielema is organized and is a disciplinarian, but the Razorbacks lost Tyler Wilson and Cobi Hamilton, their primary offensive weapons last season, especially with all the injuries the offense incurred.

The bulk of the defense returns, and there are some talented players there. But there isn’t much depth, especially in the secondary, and the Razorbacks were ranked No. 73 in total defense last season, giving up an average of 409.92 yards per game.

The question is: Can this new staff coach them up?

Absolutely.

From top to bottom, there might not be a better coaching staff in college football, but if the program wasn’t so far off course there would have been a line of candidates a block long to coach the Razorbacks.

All indications are that Jeff Long homed in on Bielema as early as last September, and if he told anyone it might have been his wife, Fanny, but no one else in the free world seemed to know Bielema was a candidate.

If Homeland Security or the CIA ever need some help with secrecy issues, Long would be the only consultant they would need.

It is way too early to be predicting a finish for the Hogs, but their schedule is a bear.

They should start 3-0: Louisiana-Lafayette, Samford and Southern Miss should be perfect tuneup games, but it will take a lot after that.

The final nine opponents most likely will be in postseason bowls. Mississippi State has a lot of work to do,but it is possible.

The Razorbacks have to visit the three most hostile environments in the SEC.

No one should ever have to play in The Swamp (Florida), Death Valley (LSU) and Suffocation City (Alabama) in one season. In fact, it is past time for the SEC to slide the Tide over to the Eastern Division and drop the Missouri Tigers into the Western Division.

Let the Eastern Division see what it is like dealing with college football’s best team every week.

Alabama has become college football’s dominant team, and while Nick Saban deserves the credit he gets, he has built his dynasty the old-fashioned way, by recruiting.

Which is what Bielema needs time to do, too.

He and his staff had less than two months to assemble their first recruiting class, and no one knows how good a class is until its third year because there is so much to learn and such a great adjustment to the speed of the game in the SEC.

Bielema and his staff are optimistic about this season’s prospects, and that’s a good thing. But the Hogs can’t afford any injuries because they lack depth, which is a big reason they will most likely be picked last in the SEC Western Division.

Sports, Pages 21 on 06/30/2013