FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl on Friday, where he'll join teammates Sebastian Tretola and Jonathan Williams, who have previously been announced.
Allen has also been invited to the NFL Combine, which will be held in Indianapolis on Feb. 23-29.
Allen, 23, passed for 3,440 yards with 30 touchdowns and 8 interceptions to record one of the most productive seasons by an Arkansas quarterback. Allen, a senior from Fayetteville, led the SEC and ranked fifth nationally in passing efficiency. His 30 touchdown passes tied for 12th in the nation.
He owns Arkansas records for career touchdown passes (64) and single-game touchdown passes (7).
Other quarterbacks who are listed as accepting Senior Bowl invitations are North Carolina State's Jacoby Brissett, Louisiana Tech's Jeff Driskel, Stanford's Kevin Hogan, Southern Cal's Cody Kessler, Mississippi State's Dak Prescott and North Dakota State's Carson Wentz.
The Senior Bowl will be played at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 30 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
Tuned in
Not only did the Liberty Bowl announced a sellout crowd for last Saturday's game between Arkansas and Kansas State, it is also bragging about a record number viewers.
The game earned a 4.4 rating, which translates into roughly 5.15 million households, making it the most-watched bowl game televised on ESPN this postseason outside of the New Year's Six games -- the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls.
"The huge viewership. ... It was stunning," Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Ehrhart told the Commercial Appeal of Memphis. "I was pleased."
The Alamo Bowl, which Kansas State played in a year ago and began immediately following the Liberty Bowl, also received nice viewing numbers, coming in a shade behind the Liberty Bowl with 5.1 million households.
Bowl bucks
It was a good week in Memphis for the Arkansas Razorbacks, who won a bowl game in back-to-back seasons for the first time, and it was a good week for bowl organizers, who announced that a sellout crowd of 61,136 attended the game, and that many of the fans opened the wallets in Memphis.
"This AutoZone Liberty Bowl will go down as the largest economic impact of any sports event in the history of Memphis," Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, said in a Liberty Bowl release.
"We've had many huge AutoZone Liberty Bowls over the years, but this was the biggest and best bowl week ever," Sandy Robertson, president of the Beale Street Merchants Association, said in the release.
Dabo Hog?
Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney was on the brink of becoming an Arkansas assistant coach in the winter of 2007-2008, former Clemson and Tulane Coach Tommy Bowden said.
In an article published at Gridironnow.com on Thursday, Bowden said he stepped down from the head coaching job at Clemson the next season to give Swinney a chance as the interim coach with the Tigers. Bowden had been on the brink of accepting the Arkansas head coaching job in December 2007 after Houston Nutt resigned.
"The year before, I had one foot on a plane going to Arkansas. If I had taken that job, Dabo would've gone with me, and he wouldn't have been the coach of Clemson," Bowden told the web site.
Pittman profits
Former Arkansas assistant head coach and offensive line coach Sam Pittman accepted a three-year offer from Georgia with a salary of $650,000 per year, according to news reports out of Georgia on Friday. Pittman was making $525,000 annually at Arkansas.
Pittman will also receive a payment of $250,000 on Jan. 31, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to pay his buyout at Arkansas.
Pittman reunited with former Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney on the staff of new Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart. Chaney agreed to a three-year deal worth $850,000 per season, according to news reports.
Chaney, who made $550,000 in his final season at Arkansas in 2014, coordinated the offense at Pittsburgh last season.
Hog wild
Arkansas became the all-time leader in Liberty Bowl appearances when it played in the game for the fifth time Jan. 2.
The Razorbacks improved to 2-3 in Liberty Bowls with its 45-23 victory over Kansas State
Arkansas lost to three SEC teams in its first three appearances, all before joining the conference in 1992: 14-13 to Tennessee in 1971, 21-15 to Auburn in 1984 and 20-17 to Georgia in 1987.
The Razorbacks beat East Carolina 20-17 in overtime on Jan. 2, 2010, for its first Liberty Bowl victory.
Air Force, Alabama, East Carolina, Louisville, Mississippi State and Ole Miss had been tied with Arkansas at four appearances each.
Tough slate
Arkansas' 2015 opponents have combined for a 96-52 record, a .649 winning percentage, not counting Alabama's appearance in the College Football Playoff championship game against Clemson on Monday.
The Razorbacks faced nine bowl teams and had a 4-5 record against them. Arkansas faced three teams with 10 or more victories -- Alabama (13-1), Ole Miss (10-3) and Toledo (10-2).
Every Arkansas opponent with the exception of Texas-El Paso (5-7), Missouri (5-7) and Kansas State (6-7) finished with a winning record.
Good grades
The UA athletic department touted a program-record 3.25 grade point average compiled by all the student-athletes on campus in the fall semester. The new mark tops a 3.24 GPA accumulated by athletes in the fall of 2014.
An Arkansas news release stated the latest grade report marked the 12th consecutive semester UA student-athletes combined for a 3.0 GPA or better.
Other items in the release: 16 of 19 athletic teams had a 3.0 GPA or better, 63 student-athletes posted a 4.0 GPA, 109 student-athletes achieved a personal-best GPA, and 289 student-athletes made the department honor roll for having a 3.0 GPA or better.
The top-rated teams were the swimming and diving team on the women's side with a 3.56 GPA and the men's golf team with a 3.43 GPA.
Hogs in
Arkansas came in at No. 22 in the rankings of NationalChamps.net's 2016 Early Bird Preview released Friday.
Clemson was chosen at No. 1 in the early rankings for 2016, followed by LSU, Oklahoma, Alabama and Stanford.
Other SEC teams in the rankings were No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 25 Georgia.
Hogs out
The Razorbacks did not have a spot in what Athlon Sports is touting as a very early top 25 for 2016 released Friday.
Alabama, which will play Clemson for the College Football Playoff national championship Monday, was No. 1 in the rankings, followed by Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Florida State.
Other SEC teams in the Athlon rankings: No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 LSU, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 20 Georgia and No. 25 Florida.
Arkansas, which finished tied for third in the SEC West with LSU, and Auburn, which finished last in the SEC West, were listed along with Texas A&M among 10 other "teams to watch."
New bosses
Arkansas' 2016 schedule will feature games against two teams with new head coaches, including one SEC rival.
The Razorbacks will take on Missouri (first-year head coach Barry Odom) in the regular-season finale at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo.
The other first-year coach on the schedule is Texas State's Everett Withers in Week 3 on Sept. 17 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Withers replaced Dennis Franchione, the former TCU and Alabama coach, after Texas State's 3-9 season.
Withers, 52, was a successful defensive coordinator at North Carolina and took the Tar Heels' head coaching reins in 2011. He led North Carolina to a 7-6 record in 2011 but was let go after being caught up in an NCAA investigation involving improper benefits and other violations. He went on to coordinate the defense at Ohio State in 2012-2013 and spent the past two years as head coach at James Madison.
Sports on 01/09/2016