Arkansas football: 3 bold predictions for 2022 season

The Arkansas football team will barely escape with a win vs Cincinnati

The Hogs are opening up the 2022 slate with a tough contest against the Cincinnati Bearcats at home.

The Bearcats were the 2021 American Athletic Conference champions and became the first team from the Group of 5 to make it to the College Football Playoff.

Cincinnati lost nine players to the 2022 NFL Draft, the third most of any school in the country. That’s a lot of talent to replace, which includes No. 4 overall pick CB Sauce Gardner, No. 31 overall pick S Dayton Hill, and QB Desmond Ridder, who happened to be the second quarterback selected in the entire draft class.

However, despite the heavy losses, Cincy will have their entire starting offensive line return for the 2022 season. That will give the new starting QB (either Ben Bryant or Evan Prater) a huge advantage and provide some much-needed continuity on offense.

Plus, Head Coach Luke Fickell is an outstanding recruiter and brilliant coach. He brought in a slew of three and four-star recruits to reload and replenish their depth.

This is not the same Bearcats team from 2021 by any means, but they will undoubtedly have a massive chip on their shoulder in this Week 1 game. They want to prove they’re perennial contenders, that they can hang with an SEC team, and that their new conference mates in the Big 12 should be getting nervous for their arrival in July 2023.

The Hogs will win this game, but it’s going to be a lot closer than many probably expect. Fans are going to want to circle this game on their Week 1 college football calendar.