Arkansas football: 3 bold predictions for season opener vs No. 23 Cincinnati

Arkansas football fans, rejoice— after eight long months, the Hogs are back in action at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Head Coach Sam Pittman and his balanced attack are back to build on an outstanding 2021 season in which the team finished 9-4 and saw their AP Poll ranking soar as high as No. 8 in the country.

Their nine wins were the most the team has earned since winning 11 games back in 2011 when Bobby Petrino was the head coach and guided the team to its first Cotton Bowl win since 1999.

There’s a ton of excitement for the Week 1 matchup vs No. 23 ranked Cincinnati, arguably the best team among those in the Group of Five.

I’m making some predictions for this matchup, set to take place September 3 at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN.

Cincinnati will be coming in with a massive chip on their shoulders

Make no mistake, the Bearcats, are for real.

Head Coach Luke Fickell guided this team to the College Football Playoff last season— becoming the first ever Group of Five team to do so— losing to Alabama in the semifinals.

Cincinnati is one of three teams set to defect the American Athletic Conference to join the Big 12 next season (UCF and Houston being the other two). So these guys are basically 10 months away from being officially a Power Five school.

Since losing a ton of talent to the NFL Draft, experts, analysts, and insiders have been doubting if the Bearcats can get back to the top of the college football mountain and repeat last season’s success.

Cincy will come into Fayetteville looking to prove those doubters wrong and let teams from the Power Five conferences know they are going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.