College Football
Scores/Schedules
Rankings
Standings
Statistics
Transactions
Injuries
Weekly lineup
Teams
Recruiting
 Saturday, December 4
Arkansas expects to meet Texas
 
Associated Press

  LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas is expected to get a spot in the Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl when the bowl picture takes shape on Sunday.

The game in Dallas would be the second bowl for the Razorbacks in two years under coach Houston Nutt and the first time Arkansas (unranked ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) has earned back-to-back bowl trips during the 1990s.

Arkansas is expected to play Texas, a 22-6 loser to Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game Saturday.

The last time Arkansas played in the Cotton Bowl was Jan, 1, 1990. That year, Ken Hatfield's 10-1 Razorbacks made 568 yards -- then a Cotton Bowl record -- but lost to Tennessee 31-27. The year before, Arkansas lost to UCLA 17-3 in the Cotton Bowl.

Arkansas and Texas developed a rich rivalry when both were Southwest Conference powers in the 1960s and 1970s. The Razorbacks and the Longhorns will play again in 2003-2004.

The last time the teams met, Arkansas won 14-13 in Little Rock in 1991.

This year, the Razorbacks had some help getting to the Cotton Bowl.

Tennessee did its part, finishing 9-2 and earning a spot in the Bowl Championship Series -- the second SEC team among the eight in the BCS.

Entering the final week of the regular season, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia were each 7-3 and Mississippi State was 8-2.

The Cotton Bowl preferred a team with eight victories.

Mississippi and Mississippi State were up first, on Thanksgiving night. The Rebels opened a comfortable lead, but the Bulldogs rallied in the fourth quarter -- their norm this year -- and won.

The next day, Arkansas played LSU at Baton Rouge. The Razorbacks wasted some early opportunities and the Tigers hit two big pass plays on their way to a 21-3 halftime lead. Eventually, LSU scored its first Southeastern Conference victory of the year -- 35-10.

On Saturday, all Georgia had to do was kick a chip-shot field goal in the final seconds to break a 48-48 tie with Georgia Tech. Instead, the Bulldogs decided to run one more play and the ensuing "fumble" cost an SEC officiating crew dearly. In overtime, Tech won 51-48.

That was the second straight year that Arkansas received help from the Yellow Jackets. Last year, Georgia was in the Citrus Bowl picture until it finished the season with a 21-19 loss to Tech. That left the Bulldogs with an 8-3 record and put 9-2 Arkansas in Orlando.

At the end of the day on Nov. 27, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia were each 7-4 and Mississippi State was 9-2. The Bulldogs were in the Cotton Bowl last year, so they were a natural for the Outback Bowl in Tampa.

Georgia hoped to avoid a repeat in-state trip to the Peach Bowl, but the Bulldogs' chances of going to Dallas dimmed when Kansas State lined up a trip to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.

Mississippi fans argued that the Rebels should be in Dallas before Arkansas because of the rout of the Razorbacks in Oxford on Nov. 6. But, the Rebels lost two of their last three and Arkansas' last three games included victories over two teams ranked in the top 12 -- Tennessee and Mississippi State.

 


ALSO SEE
1999-2000 Bowl schedule

Defense dominates as Nebraska tops Texas for Big 12