RANKING CFB FAN HAPPINESS - Arkansas #93

[RME]

Out of 128 teams.

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/20369846/ranking-happiness-every-college-football-fan-base-2017?sf108300231=1

Fan Happiness Index Methodology:

Program power - combination of strength of records from 2012 - 2016 and current FPI compared to recent history

Rivalry dominance - combination of wins above expectation over rivals in past 5 seasons and how a team's FPI compares to its rivals'

Coaching stability - how close a coach is to being fired, based on Phil Steele's coaching stability rankings

Recruiting trend - difference in percentage of five-, four-, and three-star recruits in current class vs. expectation

Revenue growth - difference between revenue earned in 2016 season relative to 2012-2015 average

Twitter buzz - percentage of tweets from fans that are positive, based on social media sentiment analysis


Me thinks it's not that bad overall. Me thinks they just read Hogville. Then again, a lot of it is based since 2012 and, well...you know

[Pinto]

We shouldn't be in Top 100 lol

[Wildhog]

Last in the SEC.  Nice.

[hogsanity]

3 of the 6 measures are going to be low based on being a small state.

[Atlhogfan1]

No darn.  Rebuilding in the SEC isn't fun.  This covered 2012 - 2016 which started off as a crapshow for us.  Some fans can handle it and understand the situation and many can't. 

Personally, I'm still not over the last 2 games last season.

[RME]

3 of the 6 measures are going to be low based on being a small state.

Based on what? Plenty of Texas schools ranked in the 90-128 range. Plenty of smaller state schools ranked in the top 30.

[hogsanity]

Based on what? Plenty of Texas schools ranked in the 90-128 range. Plenty of smaller state schools ranked in the top 30.

Rivalry dominance - not sure who they pegged that for us ( cant open the link right now ). Recruiting - thats been talked about plenty. Twitter Buzz - not as many people around to tweet about the hogs.

[bphi11ips]

"... and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from millenials."

[RME]

"... and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from millenials."

I fail to see any relevance. Help me out here.

[ATU HOG]

Ha.. joke's on them!!  Put those GPAs up there and watch how far we'd climb

[bphi11ips]

I fail to see any relevance. Help me out here.

Amen

[RME]

Amen

Or continue to be vague. The only relevance I can find relating to your statement which you're too frightened to expand upon was that you checked my profile to see my age and then attempted to grasp at a way you could equate an ESPN article with my age.

I neither wrote nor researched the poll. I simply found it and shared it.

Lord, deliver us from the self-righteous, holier-than-thou, enabling, and economically-destructive Boomers. Amen.

Now that that's out of the way, what'd you think of the research and methodology pertaining to the poll, Mr. Phillips?

[bphi11ips]

Or continue to be vague. The only relevance I can find relating to your statement which you're too frightened to expand upon was that you checked my profile to see my age and then attempted to grasp at a way you could equate an ESPN article with my age.

I neither wrote nor researched the poll. I simply found it and shared it.

Lord, deliver us from the self-righteous, holier-than-thou, enabling, and economically-destructive Boomers. Amen.

Now that that's out of the way, what'd you think of the research and methodology pertaining to the poll, Mr. Phillips?

Lighten up, Francis. Your age never occurred to me, but Ms. Kelly's did.

[RME]

Lighten up, Francis. Your age never occurred to me, but Ms. Kelly's did.

So about the methodology and us being ranked as the 93rd happiest...

[wachhog]

Louisville's #5 and we're #93.
Yep. about right.

[wachhog]

3 of the 6 measures are going to be low based on being a small state.

Louisville is in such a gigantic state. Got it.

[hogsanity]

Louisville is in such a gigantic state. Got it.

Well they have 1.5 mil more than Arkansas. Louisville has a population of 250K.

[Tusks]

I can't think of a whole lot to be happy about over the last 5 years with regards to the football program.  A few happy nuggets here or there but there's just as many WTH moments.

Maybe this is the bottom and the program is going to start moving up.

[RME]

I can't think of a whole lot to be happy about over the last 5 years with regards to the football program.  A few happy nuggets here or there but there's just as many WTH moments.

Maybe this is the bottom and the program is going to start moving up.

I agree. After reading through the methodology descriptions and seeing most of their data comes from 2012 to now, our ranking could be justified, but I don't think it's that bad. I have no doubt we're moving up.

I'll say this: We suffered through a scandal and JLS while A&M has just straight up blown their seasons. They're ranked 91st I believe, with nothing near the stuff we've been through. They've just blown it late in their seasons. Would suck to be a fan of them.

The 2012 and 2013 seasons, and the 2 games to end last season definitely don't help. But I wouldn't say it's that bad. But like I said in my original post, one look through Hogville would probably justify that ranking. Luckily there exists a world of fandom outside of here.

[WilsonHog]

Damn. I didn't even know I was supposed to be miserable.

[azhog10]

3 of the 6 measures are going to be low based on being a small state.

Love your excuses for this program.....

[hawgon]

Relax, Jeff Long is happy and football is fun again.

[hogsanity]

Love your excuses for this program.....

Is or is not Arkansas a small state?

[hogsanity]

Relax, Jeff Long is happy and football is fun again.

Football is fun if you watch it for that fact. If you gain some sort of personal self worth from the results of kids on Friday nights or young men on Saturdays, well that's a whole different story.

[Grizzlyfan]

Relax, Jeff Long is happy and football is fun again.

This ranking is ridiculous.  And football should be fun.  Not life or death.  We have great facilities and the game day experience is awesome.  The team is competitive and wins more than it loses.  Fans desperately need some perspective.

[hogsanity]

  Fans desperately need some perspective.

BINGO, but I now fear for your safety.

[hogfan14]

Is or is not Arkansas a small state?

The twitter buzz says it is based on percentages though, not amount

[RME]

This ranking is ridiculous.  And football should be fun.  Not life or death.  We have great facilities and the game day experience is awesome.  The team is competitive and wins more than it loses.  Fans desperately need some perspective.

I don't disagree with you. I don't think this poll is reflective of the fanbase as a whole. Rather, I interpret it as data being used to project what our fanbase should feel like based on their methodology, not what we actually feel like.

But, like I've said a couple times, one glance through Hogville could lead an outsider to believe we're the unhappiest fans in the country.

[DeltaBoy]

No doubt the last 2 games of last season just sucked.

[Atlhogfan1]

Louisville's #5 and we're #93.
Yep. about right.

Louisville from 2012 - 16:

Strong 12-1 W Sugar Bowl
Strong 11-2 W Russell Bowl
Petrino 9-4 L Belk
Petrino 8-5 W Music City
Petrino 9-4 L Citrus

Can understand why they have been happy in this time period.

Had this been from 2007-11:

Kragthorpe 6-6
Krag 5-7
Krag 4-8
Strong 7-6
Strong 7-6

They probably weren't nearly as happy.  Rebuilding and turnover does that to a fan base. 

[hogsanity]

But, like I've said a couple times, one glance through Hogville could lead an outsider to believe we're the unhappiest fans in the country.

I think they are very unhappy, but I think it has little to do with football.

[Grizzlyfan]

I don't disagree with you. I don't think this poll is reflective of the fanbase as a whole. Rather, I interpret it as data being used to project what our fanbase should feel like based on their methodology, not what we actually feel like.

But, like I've said a couple times, one glance through Hogville could lead an outsider to believe we're the unhappiest fans in the country.

Yeah I kind of figured that out about the methodology after I typed.  The ranking seems to be ridiculous on multiple levels.

There's no way that the Arkansas fan base should be more unhappy than Ole Miss with all their problems, Vandy (perpetual doormat), South Carolina (perpetual underachiever).  Even Missouri with their small taste of success recently.

[daBoar]

Me thinks it's not that bad overall. Me thinks they just read Hogville. Then again, a lot of it is based since 2012 and, well...you know

Actually it's an improvement over last season's rushing defense.

[bphi11ips]

So about the methodology and us being ranked as the 93rd happiest...

The premise that "fan happiness" can be quantified by formula is asinine, sort of like the myriad "advanced stats" sprouting like weeds on the football landscape. Football isn't that complicated.

Who decided what each team's 5, 4 and 3 star expectations are?  Besides, the real football coaches (like ours) know the difference between a prospect camp and a beauty pageant. They don't need no stinkin' stars.

What is "social media sentiment analysis"?  LOL. People need jobs. Tiffany Kelly was just doing hers, God bless her.

Who determined our rivals? Do we have one?

Why is the analysis limited to the last five years?  Is this a trend analysis or a lifetime analysis?

Like posters on Hogville, ESPN writers are looking for something to occupy their time until the season starts. Anticipation is building.  Poor Ms. Kelly drew the short straw. 

You don't need a weather vane to know which way the wind blows. Would you rather be an Appalachian State fan or an Arkansas fan?  How about Arkansas State?  Kentucky?

You could reach the same results by looking at recent performance vs. history within living memory. My memory is different than yours, but collectively, the Razorbacks fans who built and support and engender future generations' support dates to the 50's. In the last five years, Arkansas had a 17-game conference losing streak. Seventeen.  That was as shocking to boomer fan systems as an eclipse was to a native American. So - yeah, the trend is we haven't been as happy lately as we were in, say, 1968, or 1975, or 1977, or 1988 or 89 (when there was plenty of grumbling), or 1998 or 2006 or 2010 or 2011.  It's no great trick to figure we might be a bit down by historic standards.

If Ms. Kelly were able to look behind the curtain in an analysis that wasn't based upon factors designed to make the analysis appear "objective", she'd see a fanbase anxiously awaiting a season full of rivalries. She'd see construction to expand seating capacity.  She'd see a university that has expanded rapidly in part because of student desire to go to a school where big time football is part of the college experience. 

"Methodology" like Ms. Kelly's removed the human element, and human experience, from analysis.  She was given an impossible assignment. There's no way to quantify and rank "happiness" in 128 fanbases.  But if there were, Arkansas fans would rank much higher than 93, if a weather vane were the only factor.

Does that answer your question?

[Wildhog]

I don't know about the rest of the fanbase, but I do know I'm not happy with our football program.

[hawgon]

I don't know about the rest of the fanbase, but I do know I'm not happy with our football program.

No rational person would be.

[RME]

The premise that "fan happiness" can be quantified by formula is asinine, sort of like the myriad "advanced stats" sprouting like weeds on the football landscape. Football isn't that complicated.

Who decided what each team's 5, 4 and 3 star expectations are?  Besides, the real football coaches (like ours) know the difference between a prospect camp and a beauty pageant. They don't need no stinkin' stars.

What is "social media sentiment analysis"?  LOL. People need jobs. Tiffany Kelly was just doing hers, God bless her.

Who determined our rivals? Do we have one?

Why is the analysis limited to the last five years?  Is this a trend analysis or a lifetime analysis?

Like posters on Hogville, ESPN writers are looking for something to occupy their time until the season starts. Anticipation is building.  Poor Ms. Kelly drew the short straw. 

You don't need a weather vane to know which way the wind blows. Would you rather be an Appalachian State fan or an Arkansas fan?  How about Arkansas State?  Kentucky?

You could reach the same results by looking at recent performance vs. history within living memory. My memory is different than yours, but collectively, the Razorbacks fans who built and support and engender future generations' support dates to the 50's. In the last five years, Arkansas had a 17-game conference losing streak. Seventeen.  That was as shocking to boomer fan systems as an eclipse was to a native American. So - yeah, the trend is we haven't been as happy lately as we were in, say, 1968, or 1975, or 1977, or 1988 or 89 (when there was plenty of grumbling), or 1998 or 2006 or 2010 or 2011.  It's no great trick to figure we might be a bit down by historic standards.

If Ms. Kelly were able to look behind the curtain in an analysis that wasn't based upon factors designed to make the analysis appear "objective", she'd see a fanbase anxiously awaiting a season full of rivalries. She'd see construction to expand seating capacity.  She'd see a university that has expanded rapidly in part because of student desire to go to a school where big time football is part of the college experience. 

"Methodology" like Ms. Kelly's removed the human element, and human experience, from analysis.  She was given an impossible assignment. There's no way to quantify and rank "happiness" in 128 fanbases.  But if there were, Arkansas fans would rank much higher than 93, if a weather vane were the only factor.

Does that answer your question?

It does! And it echoes pretty much what I said a couple posts ago about the data projecting how our fans should feel and not how they actually feel. That being said, I'm in 100% agreement with the statement of yours that I bolded.

[hogsanity]

No rational person would be.

why not, they are 0-0 for 2017 and have a chance to win it all.

[Wildhog]

why not, they are 0-0 for 2017 and have a chance to win it all.

So is Kansas.

[hawgon]

why not, they are 0-0 for 2017 and have a chance to win it all.

As I said...

[mizzouman]

Again with these silly rankings.  They mean nothing.  So called journalist have nothing better to do.

[moses_007]

What fan could be happy with CBB's 25-26 overall record and 10-22 in the SEC?  Are you happy with this?  Would you be content with more of the same?  I know I'm not, and that Arkansas can do a lot better than this with the right coach.

[RME]

Again with these silly rankings.  They mean nothing.  So called journalist have nothing better to do.

They drive clicks and views to the page. That results in monetization. To you, they might mean nothing. To an analytics consultant/associate, like those who designed the research, they mean something. Preseason Top 25 polls have been around awhile, too. While meaningless, they aren't going anywhere.

[Atlhogfan1]

What fan could be happy with CBB's 25-26 overall record and 10-22 in the SEC?  Are you happy with this?  Would you be content with more of the same?  I know I'm not, and that Arkansas can do a lot better than this with the right coach.

I would be a little more content had last season ended 9-4.  Not as concerned if it had ended up 8-5.  Do not give one darn what happened in 2013 or what the record was. 

[mizzouman]

They drive clicks and views to the page. That results in monetization. To you, they might mean nothing. To an analytics consultant/associate, like those who designed the research, they mean something. Preseason Top 25 polls have been around awhile, too. While meaningless, they aren't going anywhere.

Understood, but we drive it.  So, if we don't click it, they'll stop doing it.  But we, as fans, have a hard time NOT looking at it.  It's addictive but at the same time, means absolutely NOTHING.

Now, I do have a problem with the preseason top 25 because it's often wrong, but yet these schools get a lot of air time until they fall out and recruits see it.  I've often advocated that polls should not come out until week 5 or 6.

[bphi11ips]

What fan could be happy with CBB's 25-26 overall record and 10-22 in the SEC?  Are you happy with this?  Would you be content with more of the same?  I know I'm not, and that Arkansas can do a lot better than this with the right coach.

Put the record in context and you'll feel better. Someone had to stop the bleeding. Bielema is 10-9 in the SEC since ending the 17 game conference skid against LSU in 2014. He has a 5th year senior QB who threw for 3500 yards last year leading an offense full of four star recruits. He has a veteran secondary and a bunch of four stars in the front seven two-deep. 

The season is about to start. We play 9 games that promise to be exciting.  What's to be unhappy about?

[RME]

Understood, but we drive it.  So, if we don't click it, they'll stop doing it.  But we, as fans, have a hard time NOT looking at it.  It's addictive but at the same time, means absolutely NOTHING.

Yeahhhh but if it's lunchtime at work and football is literally around the corner, and you see an ESPN article with this title, you're telling me you wouldn't be a tiiiiny bit curious just to click it and see where Mizzou is? Haha.

[EastexHawg]

As I said...

This made me laugh out loud.

[mizzouman]

Yeahhhh but if it's lunchtime at work and football is literally around the corner, and you see an ESPN article with this title, you're telling me you wouldn't be a tiiiiny bit curious just to click it and see where Mizzou is? Haha.

No I'll click it.  But, I don't put stock in it.  If Mizzou is ranked high or low or whatever, I don't get mad or excited because I already know it's wrong. 

So, read all you want but don't get worked up about it.

[moses_007]

Put the record in context and you'll feel better. Someone had to stop the bleeding. Bielema is 10-9 in the SEC since ending the 17 game conference skid against LSU in 2014. He has a 5th year senior QB who threw for 3500 yards last year leading an offense full of four star recruits. He has a veteran secondary and a bunch of four stars in the front seven two-deep. 

The season is about to start. We play 9 games that promise to be exciting.  What's to be unhappy about?

We'll see how this season goes, but we have only one returning receiver and one returning running back from last year's roster.  If it turns out like CBB's first season, fans will be pressuring Jeff Long to fire him.  If by some stroke of luck, the season turn out to be respectible, the pressure will be off.........