Arkansas Tops SEC and ranks No. 5 nationally in CBS Sports
Arkansas Tops SEC and ranks No. 5 nationally in CBS Sports. The incredible athletic achievement of the University of Arkansas continues to gain national attention. In the most current CBS Sports Best in College Sports Rankings, the Razorbacks were placed first in the Southeastern Conference and sixth overall.
Arkansas was the SEC’s highest performing athletics programme and one of three league programmes ranked in the top ten. The Razorbacks ended with 459.5 points, which included 132.5 points for football, 146 points for men’s basketball, 25 points for women’s basketball, 83 points for baseball, and 73 points for women’s soccer.
The rankings are based on finishes in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and two wild card sports from baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, lacrosse, hockey, and wrestling during the 2021-22 athletics year. As part of the ranking methodology, points gained in football (x2.5) and men’s basketball (x2) were multiplied.
Coach Sam Pittman and the Arkansas football team had one of the finest seasons in recent memory in 2021. Arkansas won the Outback Bowl 24-10 over Penn State to finish a stunning 9-4 season. The Razorbacks finished the season ranked 20th in the USA Today / AFCA Coaches poll.
Coach Eric Musselman and the Arkansas men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The Razorbacks won three games in the draw, including a Sweet Sixteen victory against No. 1 Gonzaga, to proceed to the Elite Eight and the West Regional Final. Arkansas went to the Elite Eight in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
Arkansas returned to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament after qualifying for the Big Dance again in 2020-21. The Razorbacks would have made three consecutive NCAA berths if not for a pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.
Arkansas finished their 2021-22 season with an 11th trip to the College World Series. To earn a spot in the national championship game in Omaha, Nebraska, the Razorbacks won an NCAA Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma and an NCAA Super Regional in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Arkansas finished third in the CWS, one game shy of advancing to the championship series. For the third time in the last four seasons, the Hogs have progressed to the College World Series.
Arkansas won the SEC regular season championship for the third time in a row before reaching the Elite Eight phase of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament for the first time in programme history. The Razorbacks’ program-record playoff run ended just short of the program’s first trip to the NCAA Final Four, when they were defeated by Rutgers in a penalty kick shootout in the Elite Eight match.
Arkansas finished a school-record sixth in the Learfield Directors’ Cup last month, the highest finish by any programme with 19 or fewer sports. In the 2020-21 sports season, the Razorbacks won eight Southeastern Conference titles and finished with nine top-10 national finishes, surpassing the program’s previous Directors’ Cup high performance of ninth.