2011 Season Prognostications (Already?)

Arkansas awaits its bowl destination capping the 2010 campaign but it's never too early to pull out the crystal ball and see what awaits for the 2011 Razorbacks in what should be a much-hyped season if one Ryan Mallett doesn't forgo his final year of eligibility.

Sept. 3, 2011 vs Missouri State

Arkansas opened 2009 with a convincing 48-10 walloping of the Bears in Little Rock, and it will be in Fayetteville this time. Expect more points and the defense to do its job as well.

Arkansas 56, Missouri State 6

Sept. 10, 2011 vs TBA

The Razorbacks have not announced an opponent for this date yet. The general consensus among Razorback fans is that Jeff Long is looking for a decent opponent, maybe a TCU, for Little Rock.

Sept. 17, 2011 vs Troy

Arkansas has dominated Troy over the last decade and it shouldn't be any different this time, as the Razorbacks coast to a victory in preparation for the SEC opener.

Arkansas 49, Troy 14

Sept. 24, 2011 at Alabama

Bobby Petrino has not beaten Alabama since taking over at Arkansas, with his best chance coming this past year and the Hogs were unable to finish in the 4th quarter. I think Arkansas developed a pattern of getting off to a fast start and controlling the line of scrimmage near the end of 2010 on the road and they will do this against Alabama and pull out a win.

Arkansas 41, Alabama 31

Oct. 1, 2011 vs Texas A&M in Dallas

The Aggies have been bested by Arkansas twice in a row and are looking to finally eke out a win in the Southwest Classic, but I don't think it will happen this time around either. Arkansas will run rampant through the Aggie defense and also hit for some big plays.

Arkansas 38, Texas A&M 20

Oct. 8, 2011 vs Auburn

I think this is the game Arkansas will most want to win in 2011. Arkansas was embarrased by the Tigers this past year and will have revenge on its mind. The Hogs dismantled Auburn in Fayetteville two years ago and look for something similar but not quite that good this time around.

Arkansas 42, Auburn 29

Oct. 22, 2011 at Ole Miss

Whether Houston Nutt is the coach of the Rebels or not, Arkansas will win this game. The Rebels will struggle mightily again next season and Arkansas should be clicking on all cylinders again at this point. Look for plenty of offensive firepower displayed.

Arkansas 45, Ole Miss 17

Oct. 29, 2011 at Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt. Enough said. New coach and still worst team in the conference.

Arkansas 59, Vanderbilt 10

Nov. 5, 2011 vs South Carolina

The defending Eastern Division champs will look to avenge a beatdown from a year ago in Fayetteville but it won't happen. Marcus Lattimore will get shut down again and the Razorback offense will put up points.

Arkansas 43, South Carolina 22

Nov. 12, 2011 vs Tennessee

Derek Dooley's Volunteers come to town for the first time since 2006, and the Hogs, who will likely be in the Top 5 or maybe No. 1 at this point, should have their way with UT.

Arkansas 38, Tennessee 27

Nov. 19, 2011 vs Mississippi State (LR)

War Memorial Stadium, where Bobby Petrino is undefeated. Don't see any reason why this will change against Dan Mullen's Bulldogs.

Arkansas 34, Mississippi State 24

Nov. 26, 2011 at LSU

Arkansas finishes its first undefeated season in 47 years with a 40-36 win over the Tigers to advance to Atlanta and put itself in a position to win an SEC and BCS title. Petrino will be hailed as the greatest coach in school history.

Arkansas 40, LSU 36

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Season Review

Well, my predictions for the Razorbacks were a little too optimistic, and I was definitely wrong on the U making a comeback and returning to the national championship game.

All in all, I predicted 9 of the 12 games correctly--I had Arkansas finishing 11-1 and in reality they went 10-2...I picked the Hogs to beat Alabama and Auburn and they didn't, but picked them to lose to South Carolina and they ended up winning.

Sept. 4 Tenn Tech Prediction: W 51-13. Actual W 44-3.
Sept. 11 ULM (LR) Prediction: W 47-15. Actual W 31-7.
Sept. 18 at Georgia Prediction: W 39-28. Actual W 31-24.
Sept. 25 Alabama Prediction W: 30-27. Actual L 24-20.
Oct. 9 Texas A&M (Dallas) Prediction: W 45-24. Actual W 24-17.
Oct. 16 at Auburn Prediction: W 41-34 (OT). Actual L 65-43.
Oct. 23 Ole Miss Prediction: W 35-20. Actual W 38-24.
Oct. 30 Vanderbilt Prediction: W 49-14. Actual W 49-14.
Nov. 6 at South Carolina Prediction: L 22-20. Actual W 41-20.
Nov. 13 UTEP Prediction: W 48-9. Actual W 58-21.
Nov. 20 at Miss. State Prediction: W 34-21. Actual W 38-31 (2 OT).
Nov. 27 LSU (LR) Prediction: W 28-25. Actual W 31-23.

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What's wrong with Big D?

I've been a Dallas Cowboys fan since roughly 1993, when I watched them maul Buffalo 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII as a three-year old.

Growing up in the Aikman/Smith/Irvin era, I developed a deep love for the Cowboys as they consistently won games and were in the playoff hunt every year from 1993-1997.

After that, it all began to change thanks to some smart general managing and ownership by one Jerry Jones.

Chan Gailey was brought in before 1998 and limped to a 18-14 record and playoff losses before being fired and thus beginning the Dave Campo era.

This "era" lasted all of three years, in which Dallas went 5-11 in each season.

Finally Jones woke up in 2003 and hired a Super Bowl winning coach in Bill Parcells, who had won a pair of championships with the New York Giants, had gone to a Super Bowl with the Patriots, and woke up the Jets franchise.

He woke Dallas up but eventually grew tired of Jerry's antics and was let go following a 9-7 season in 2006 that saw Dallas lose its wild-card game.

Wade Phillips was then hired and posted a remarkable 13-3 season in 2007 only to lose the divisional round game at home to New York, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

Now Phillips, in his fourth year, is 1-6 and it looks as if the season is thundering towards all-time low levels, circa 1-15 in 1989.

A lot of people are asking, "What's wrong with Dallas? They have all this talent? Why can't they win?"

This blog post will serve as a preview of a series of blog posts forthcoming entitled "It's a trap: The Death Star," that will attempt to be an explanation of why everything is so wrong with the Dallas Cowboys, and what can be done to fix it.

Photo by Brendan Sullivan/ The Dallas Morning News