Suffice to say, Arkansas has its work cut out for itself Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa against top-ranked Alabama.
The Razorbacks head into Week 9 with a record of 2-4 -- one of those two wins was against FCS Portland State. By seven. At home -- and are losers of four in a row. The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, is a perfect 7-0 and haven’t won by fewer than 19 points (Texas A&M in Week 7) in any of those victories.
The sportsbooks see it as an uphill climb as well, with Alabama anywhere from a 31- to 33-point favorite. And then there’s history going against the underdog Razorbacks as well.
Louisiana-Monroe 21, Alabama 14
That was Nov. 17, 2007, Nick Saban‘s first year at Alabama, with the Sun Belt Conference school going into Tuscaloosa to steal a win over a Tide team that would finish that inaugural Nicktator campaign at 7-6.
That was also, as it turns out, Alabama’s last loss to an unranked opponent, at home or on the road, as the Crimson Tide has won a record 88 consecutive games against such foes (previous record: 72, shared by Miami (Fla.) (1984-95) and Florida (1989-2000)). Their last road loss to an unranked team on the road? The week before the ULM game, at Starkville against Mississippi State. The last time an unranked team didn’t leave with a double-digit loss was Tennessee in October of 2015 (19-14). Overall, Alabama is 92-3 (.968) under Saban against teams not ranked in the Top 25 at the time the game was played.
More recently, ‘Bama has beaten unranked schools by 39, 52, 24, 42, 28 and 22 points this season.
Even with Tua Tagovailoa watching from the sidelines, good luck Hogs. Y’all are going to need it.
