Arkansas Football: 2022 Way-Too-Early Game-by-Game Predictions
By Kathryn Rose
That’s right, Arkansas gets playoff team Cincinnati in their opener at home. Except, it isn’t really that playoff team, because Cincinnati has lost virtually every single major contributor from that team a year ago. Early rankings from media outlets like ESPN and CBS Sports have the Bearcats ranked 19th and 23rd, respectively. That is way too high though, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone when the Bearcats are out of the polls entirely by the middle of the season. Arkansas might have early trouble but will pull away in the second half.
Final score: Arkansas 31, Cincinnati 17
An early start to the conference slate awaits the Razorbacks next, as South Carolina comes to town. The Gamecocks overachieved last year, finishing with a 7-6 mark despite a thin roster. While they lose potent edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare to the NFL, they gained two big transfers in former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, and fellow Oklahoma transfer Austin Stogner at tight end. There are still quite a lot of depth issues with the Gamecocks heading into 2022 though, and Arkansas should win.
Final score: Arkansas 34, South Carolina 24 (Arkansas moves to 2-0, 1-0 in conference)