The Arkansas Razorbacks football program represents the University of Arkansas in the sport of American football. The Razorbacks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played at stadiums on or near the two largest campuses of the University of Arkansas System: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The program began in 1894 and has compiled an all-time record of 740–539–40, for a .576 winning percentage. The Razorbacks have won 13 conference championships and have had 58 players honored as All-Americans. Arkansas claims one national championship (1964) awarded by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).
History
Conference affiliations
Arkansas has been affiliated with the following conferences. Independent (1894–1914) Southwest Conference (1915–1991) Southeastern Conference (1992–present)
Championships
National championships Arkansas has been named national champion twice by NCAA-designated major selectors. Arkansas claims the 1964 championship but does not claim the co-national championship the program was awarded in 1977 by the Rothman (FACT) poll after the Razorbacks finished the season with an 11–1 record and defeated #2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, 31–6.
In 1964, the Razorbacks finished the season as the only major team with an undefeated and untied record (11–0) after No. 1 Alabama lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl (and after Arkansas previously defeated Texas in Austin, TX that season). However, the AP and Coaches Polls became final before the bowl games were played, leaving one-loss Alabama as the AP and UPI national champion. The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Helms Athletic Foundation (Helms) conducted their final polling after the bowl games and selected Arkansas as the national champion.
1964 Billingsley, Football Research, FWAA, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Poling System, Sagarin, Sagarin (ELO-Chess) 11–0 Nebraska No. 2 No. 2
Conference championships Arkansas has won 13 conference championships (six shared, seven outright), all during their tenure in the Southwest Conference.
1936 SWC Fred Thomsen 10–3 5–1 1946† John Barnhill 10–3–0 5–1 1954 Bowden Wyatt 8–3 5–1 1959† Frank Broyles 9–2 5–1 1960 8–3 6–1 1961† 8–3 6–1 1964 11–0 7–0 1965 10–1 7–0 1968† 10–1 6–1 1975† 10–2 6–1 1979† Lou Holtz 10–2 7–1 1988 Ken Hatfield 10–2 7–0 1989 10–2 7–1 † Co-champions
Division championships Arkansas has won four division championships, all within the SEC Western Division. Arkansas has made three appearances in the SEC Championship Game as winner of the SEC Western Division but are 0–3 in those appearances. Arkansas was also the SEC Western Division co-champions in 1998 with Mississippi State but lost to the Bulldogs during the regular season, resulting in Mississippi State representing the West in the SEC Championship Game. In 2002, Alabama had the best conference record in the West with a 6–2 mark, but was on probation by the NCAA and was barred from post season play. Arkansas played in the SEC Championship Game due to winning the tiebreaker for a three-way tie with Auburn and LSU, both of whom Arkansas defeated during the regular season.
1995 SEC West Florida L 3–34 1998† N/A (Lost tiebreaker to Mississippi State) 2002† Georgia L 3–30 2006 Florida L 28–38 † - Co-champions
Head coaches
There have been 36 head coaches of Arkansas. Barry Lunney Jr. became the interim head coach on November 11, 2019, after the firing of Chad Morris.
1 John Futrall 1894–1896 3 5–2 — 2 B. N. Wilson 1897–1898 2 4–1–1 — 3 Colbert Searles 1899–1900 2 5–2–2 — 4 Charles Thomas 1901–1902 2 9–8 — 5 D. A. McDaniel 1903 1 3–4 — 6 A. D. Brown 1904–1905 2 6–9 — 7 Frank Longman 1906–1907 2 5–8–3 — 8 Hugo Bezdek 1908–1912 5 29–13–1 — 9 E. T. Pickering 1913–1914 2 11–7 — 10 T. T. McConnell 1915–1916 2 8–6–1 — 11 Norman Paine 1917–1918 2 8–3–1 — 12 J. B. Craig 1919 1 3–4 — 13 George McLaren 1920–1921 2 8–5–3 — 14 Francis Schmidt 1922–1928 7 42–20–3 — 15 Fred Thomsen 1929–1941 13 56–61–10 0–0–1 16 George Cole 1942 1 3–7 — 17 John Tomlin 1943 1 2–7 — 18 Glen Rose 1944–1945 2 8–12–1 — 19 John Barnhill 1946–1949 4 22–17–3 1–0–1 20 Otis Douglas 1950–1952 3 9–21 — 21 Bowden Wyatt 1953–1954 2 11–10 0–1 22 Jack Mitchell 1955–1957 3 17–12–1 — 23 Frank Broyles 1958–1976 19 144–58–5 4–6 24 Lou Holtz 1977–1983 7 60–21–2 3–2–1 25 Ken Hatfield 1984–1989 6 55–17–1 1–5 26 Jack Crowe 1990–1992 3 9–15 0–1 27 Joe Kines † 1992 1 3–6–1 — 28 Danny Ford 1993–1997 5 26–30–1 0–1 29 Houston Nutt 1998–2007 10 75–46 2–5 30 Reggie Herring † 2007 1 0–1 0–1 31 Bobby Petrino 2008–2011 4 34–17 2–1 32 John L. Smith † 2012 1 4–8 — 33 Bret Bielema 2013–2017 5 29–34 2–1 34 Paul Rhoads † 2017 (offseason) 1 — — — 35 Chad Morris 2018–2019 2 4–18 — 36 Barry Lunney Jr. † 2019 1 0–2 — 37 Sam Pittman 2020–2025 6 32–34 3–038 Bobby Petrino† 2025 1 0–7 —39Ryan Silverfield2026—Present————
† Interim head coach
Bowl games The Razorbacks have appeared in 45 bowl games with an overall record of 18–24–3. 1 1933 Fred Thomsen Dixie Classic Centenary T 7–7 2 1946 John Barnhill Cotton Bowl Classic LSU T 0–0 3 1947 Dixie Bowl William & Mary W 21–19 4 1954 Bowden Wyatt Cotton Bowl Classic Georgia Tech L 6–14 5 1959 Frank Broyles Gator Bowl Georgia Tech W 14–7 6 1960 Cotton Bowl Classic Duke L 6–7 7 1961 Sugar Bowl Alabama L 3–10 8 1962 Sugar Bowl Ole Miss L 13–17 9 1964 Cotton Bowl Classic Nebraska W 10–7 10 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic LSU L 7–14 11 1968 Sugar Bowl Georgia W 16–2 12 1969 Sugar Bowl Ole Miss L 22–27 13 1971 Liberty Bowl Tennessee L 13–14 14 1975 Cotton Bowl Classic Georgia W 31–10 15 1977 Lou Holtz Orange Bowl Oklahoma W 31–6 16 1978 Fiesta Bowl UCLA T 10–10 17 1979 Sugar Bowl Alabama L 9–24 18 1980 Hall of Fame Classic Tulane W 34–15 19 1981 Gator Bowl North Carolina L 27–31 20 1982 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Florida W 28–24 21 1984 Ken Hatfield Liberty Bowl Auburn L 15–21 22 1985 Holiday Bowl Arizona State W 18–17 23 1986 Orange Bowl Oklahoma L 8–42 24 1987 Liberty Bowl Georgia L 17–20 25 1988 Cotton Bowl Classic UCLA L 3–17 26 1989 Cotton Bowl Classic Tennessee L 27–31 27 1991 Jack Crowe Independence Georgia L 15–24 28 1995 Danny FordCarquest Bowl North Carolina L 10–20 29 1998 Houston Nutt Florida Citrus Bowl Michigan L 31–45 30 1999 Cotton Bowl Classic Texas W 27–6 31 2000 Las Vegas Bowl UNLV L 14–31 32 2001 Cotton Bowl Classic Oklahoma L 3–10 33 2002 Music City Bowl Minnesota L 14–29 34 2003 Independence Bowl Missouri W 27–14 35 2006 Capital One Bowl Wisconsin L 14–17 36 2007 Reggie Herring (interim)Cotton Bowl Classic Missouri L 7–38 37 2009 Bobby Petrino Liberty Bowl East Carolina W 20–17 38 2010 Sugar Bowl Ohio State L 26–31 39 2011 Cotton Bowl Classic Kansas State W 29–16 40 2014 Bret Bielema Texas Bowl Texas W 31–7 41 2015 Liberty Bowl Kansas State W 45–23 42 2016 Belk Bowl Virginia Tech L 24–35 43 2021 Sam Pittman Outback Bowl Penn State W 24–10 44 2022 Liberty Bowl Kansas W 55–53 3OT 45 2024 Liberty Bowl Texas Tech W 39–26
Arkansas has been invited to multiple Cotton Bowl Classics (12 games, 4–7–1 record), Sugar Bowls (6 games, 1–5 record), and Liberty Bowls (7 games, 4–3 record). Arkansas has faced current or future fellow SEC members in multiple bowl games as follows: Georgia (4 times); Oklahoma (3 times); and Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas (2 times each). Arkansas has faced current or future out of conference opponents Georgia Tech, Kansas State, North Carolina, and UCLA in two bowl games each.
Rivalries
LSU
Since joining the Southeastern Conference in 1992, the Razorbacks have developed a rivalry with the LSU Tigers. The game was played annually the day after Thanksgiving and was televised on CBS until 2014 when LSU played Texas A&M on Thanksgiving and Arkansas played Missouri that week. The winner of the game has taken home the "Golden Boot", which is a 24-karat gold trophy in the shape of the two states, since its creation in 1996.
In 2002, the rivalry gained some momentum as the game winner would represent the Western Division in the SEC Championship Game. The game (called "Miracle on Markham") was won by Arkansas on a touchdown pass in the final seconds by Matt Jones. In 2006, the Tigers snapped the SEC West champion Razorbacks' 10-game winning streak when they beat Arkansas in Little Rock, 31–26. In 2007, Arkansas stunned top-ranked LSU in triple overtime, 50–48, giving them their first win in Baton Rouge since 1993, and their first victory over a top-ranked team since beating Texas in 1981, winning back the Golden Boot trophy (after 4 consecutive seasons in the hands of LSU) in the process. In 2008, the Razorbacks defended the trophy, winning 31–30 on a last minute touchdown drive. As of 2025, LSU leads the series 44–23–2. Beginning in 2026, the rivalry game will again be played on Thanksgiving weekend.
Missouri
Arkansas and Missouri first met in 1906 in Columbia, Missouri, and played each other a total of five times prior to Missouri joining the SEC in 2012, and then becoming Arkansas' permanent cross-division rival in 2014. The annual meeting was dubbed the Battle Line Rivalry by the SEC, although most Arkansas fans do not consider the game a true rivalry. On November 23, 2015, a new rivalry trophy was unveiled for the annual game. Missouri leads the series 12–4 as of the conclusion of the 2025 season (Missouri vacated its win in 2016 due to NCAA action). Beginning in the 2026 season, the game will no longer be played on Thanksgiving weekend.
Ole Miss
The Razorbacks first played the Rebels in 1908. In addition to several occasional years of playing each other, the two teams played each other from 1940 to 1947 and 1952–62 on an annual basis. The Razorbacks and Rebels also met twice in the Sugar Bowl, played in New Orleans, in 1963 and 1970 (both won by Ole Miss). Since 1981, the two teams have played each other annually in football. In 2001, Arkansas and Ole Miss played a then-NCAA record seven-overtime game in Oxford, Mississippi; Arkansas won by a final score of 58–56. When Houston Nutt resigned in 2007 after ten years as Arkansas' head coach to take the same job at Ole Miss, it only added to and heightened the long-standing rivalry between the schools. Nutt was at Ole Miss for four years and went 2–2 versus Arkansas. Arkansas had played Ole Miss more total times than any other SEC opponent until Texas A&M joined the conference in 2012. Arkansas leads the series, 37–29–1, per its records and the official NCAA records, but only leads 36–30–1 per Ole Miss.
Texas