Last season, the University of Arkansas' football schedule was rated as the 20th toughest in the country by Phil Steele.
It played much harder than that with the Razorbacks going 2-10.
This season, Steele has the Razorbacks' schedule ranked as the 32nd toughest in the country out of 130.
The four nonconference games ensured the Razorbacks would rank 11th in the SEC for strength of schedule.
The Razorbacks also have on their schedule No. 41 Missouri, No. 44 Alabama and No. 51 Kentucky. Alabama's schedule strength is hurt by the fact it doesn't have to play itself.
According to these rankings, the team with the toughest schedule that the Razorbacks will play is Auburn, which is No. 2 in the country.
Texas A&M is No. 4, LSU is No. 6, Mississippi State is No. 19 and Ole Miss is No. 21.
What a season for Gus Malzahn to be on the hot seat, which heated up when his contract was extended and raised to $49 million for seven years.
If Malzahn doesn't survive this season, his buyout would be $29 million. So even if he doesn't do better than last season when the Tigers were 8-5, there are millions of reasons he should be back.
Still, he opens with Oregon in Arlington, Texas. The Ducks haven't exactly been great the past four seasons, going 29-22, but they have 17 starters back from a 9-4 team.
The rest of Auburn's nonconference schedule isn't much, but the Tigers have a hard road ahead. They are on the road against Texas A&M, Florida, Arkansas and LSU. They host the Crimson Tide.
The Oct. 19 date in Fayetteville will be huge for Malzahn because it's his first public appearance in the state since jilting the Hogs in December of 2017, when he milked Auburn for that new contract.
He isn't expecting a warm welcome, which is good because he is unlikely to get one.
The Hogs play Ole Miss in Oxford, A&M in Arlington, go to Kentucky and Alabama, get Mississippi State at home, play LSU in Baton Rouge, and face Missouri in The Rock.
Just playing in the SEC West should put any team in the Top 25 for hardest schedules.
This has been said and written, and will be again many times before Sept. 7: The critical game on Arkansas' schedule is Ole Miss.
Arkansas did not win a conference game last season, and it needs an SEC win almost as much as it does air.
After traveling to Oxford, the Hogs have back-to-back home games with Colorado State and San Jose State before heading to Jerry Jones' world to face the Aggies, who will be coming off a huge game for them against Auburn.
Jimbo Fisher will be replacing seven defensive starters and four on offense, but he's putting together a heck of a recruiting class for next season.
Once again, the Hogs catch LSU after it has played Alabama, but this one is in Death Valley.
One of the biggest challenges facing Ed Orgeron -- and no doubt he is aware of it -- is that Les Miles, now the Kansas head coach, has a lot of recruiting inroads in Louisiana. He soon will be trying to lure players to beautiful (seriously) Lawrence to play for the hapless (seriously) Jayhawks.
Kansas' last winning season was 2008 under Mark Mangino when it went 8-5.
Nonetheless, Miles has more contacts in any bayou in Louisiana than in Kansas.
Playing the Tigers is still big for the Hogs, and judging by the schedule they could catch LSU at a good time.
No matter what, the strength of schedule for the Razorbacks will get harder if they don't avoid injuries.
Sports on 07/23/2019