Crimson Red Sports

It was going to be about Alabama anyway.

If Bobby Petrino had never wrecked a motorcycle, it was still going to be about Alabama. If Petrino had never made an ill-advised hire of a woman with whom he was having a relationship, putting her on the payroll behind his athletic director's back, it was still going to be about Alabama. Had the Razorbacks not hired John L. Smith away from Weber State ... had ESPN talkmeister Skip Bayless not picked Arkansas as the 2012 BCS champions in the preseason ... had the Razorback defense not yielded 550 yards to Louisiana-Monroe ... had Tyler Wilson's bell remained unrung ...

It was going to be about Alabama anyway, and LSU later this year. Those are the two teams that dominated offseason conversation in this state, the two behemoths crowding out all of the sunlight not just at the top of the national polls, but - more suffocating for Arkansas - at the top of the Southeastern Conference and the SEC Western Division as well.

This was supposed to be the year in which Arkansas broke that stranglehold, at least in the collective minds of Arkansas fans, which includes, basically, the entire state. There is little dissent here when someone starts a cheer of "Woo Pig Sooey!" Arkansas is the only state in the entire SEC area in which there is no other team playing in the SEC or a major conference, or, as is the case in Louisiana and Missouri, with an NFL franchise.

For the rest of the nation to believe, though, Arkansas was always going to have to show it could get past Alabama. So in that sense, nothing has changed. But in another way, last week's loss to Louisiana-Monroe has changed everything. Suddenly, the Alabama game isn't the stage-setter for a coronation. It is the last-ditch effort to keep the Titanic from sinking...

Suddenly, the Alabama game isn't the stage-setter for a coronation. It is the last-ditch effort to keep the Titanic from sinking...

Well said.