Arkansas Football: 5 reasons the Razorbacks will struggle in 2017

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(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

2. Bret Bielema’s increasingly warm seat

Here are the records that head coach Bret Bielema compiled while at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2012:

2006: 12-1
2007: 9-4
2008: 7-6
2009: 10-3
2010: 11-2
2011: 11-3
2012: 8-5

Now let’s contrast those to his five-year stint at Arkansas from 2013 to the present:

2013: 3-9
2014: 7-6
2015: 8-5
2016: 7-6

Bielema had a few down years at Wisconsin. Every year he’s had at Arkansas has been a down year. When he was brought into the SEC from the Big Ten in 2013 he was supposed to be the man that was going to return the Razorbacks to relevancy. He hasn’t really come close and time is running out.

Also of note is his inability to beat Texas A&M. Losing to Alabama every season is forgivable. Just about every coach in the SEC loses to Nick Saban and has done so repetitively. But failing to beat the Aggies, a team that’s been more or less on par with the Razorbacks over the past few seasons, is more than disappointing.

Then there’s the head scratchers. In their second game of the 2016 season the Hogs lost to the Toldeo Rockets. If Bielema can’t beat Kevin Sumlin this season and manages to give away a game to a Florida A&M, New Mexico State or Coastal Carolina he’s going to have some explaining to do.

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