Which team had a better shot at a national championship game: 2006 or 2011?

[Ben]

For me i would say 2006. We matched up better with the teams we lost to than in 2011 with the lopsided losses. What do you think?

[nationwish]

Can't talk about lopsided losses in 2010 without thinking about the USC game in 2006

[HogFanatic]

Umm...the 2006 team was DESTROYED in the season opener. And I mean it was a beatdown for the history books.

[rhames]

Umm...the 2006 team was DESTROYED in the season opener. And I mean it was a beatdown for the history books.

Without our star running back. And game was actually close for a little bit.




2010 is the answer even though it isn't a choice

[Ben]

Well i mean like later in the season for 06. Despite the beatdwn by usc, we still were in the running for a national title after ripping 10 straight wins b4 lsu and fla.

[HogFanatic]

Without our star running back. And game was actually close for a little bit.




2010 is the answer even though it isn't a choice

Yeah, for like two minutes.

[HogFanatic]

Arkansas technically had a chance to back itself into the 2011 Championship game (unless I am mixing up the 2010 and 2011 seasons). The 2006 team wasn't going to play for it. In the talk, yes, but not in serious contention. You don't give up 11,000 yards of offense in your very first game of the season and play for a natty.

Reggie Bush went on to say that that game was like playing football on Xbox. It was both fun and easy. Pete Carroll said that after you have seen two series of downs that Arkansas plays, you have seen every play they will run the entire game. In short, Arkansas was playing Bush League ball.

[BPsTheMan]

prediction

someone will blow a gasket by post #20 in this thread

[rhames]

Yeah, for like two minutes.

Pretty sure it didn't get out of hand until the third quarter. Could be wrong but our lack of a passing threat killed us. Play them later in the year and different outcome


If we beat lsu and then Florida that year we are in.

[onebadrubi]

Op, why 2011 and not 2010?

The refs call the auburn game right in 2010 we would of been in the NC game

[rhames]

Arkansas technically had a chance to back itself into the 2011 Championship game (unless I am mixing up the 2010 and 2011 seasons). The 2006 team wasn't going to play for it. In the talk, yes, but not in serious contention. You don't give up 11,000 yards of offense in your very first game of the season and play for a natty.

Reggie Bush went on to say that that game was like playing football on Xbox. It was both fun and easy. Pete Carroll said that after you have seen two series of downs that Arkansas plays, you have seen every play they will run the entire game. In short, Arkansas was playing Bush League ball.

Wrong.


Sorry. If we beat lsu and Florida we would have been in.

Also bush was in the NFL at that time.

[Ben]

Arkansas technically had a chance to back itself into the 2011 Championship game (unless I am mixing up the 2010 and 2011 seasons). The 2006 team wasn't going to play for it. In the talk, yes, but not in serious contention. You don't give up 11,000 yards of offense in your very first game of the season and play for a natty.

Reggie Bush went on to say that that game was like playing football on Xbox. It was both fun and easy. Pete Carroll said that after you have seen two series of downs that Arkansas plays, you have seen every play they will run the entire game. In short, Arkansas was playing Bush League ball.

I think you are confusing 06 with 05, the year bush was there and ark lost 70-17

[Ben]

Op, why 2011 and not 2010?

The refs call the auburn game right in 2010 we would of been in the NC game

I guess i thought too much on how the game was in auburn and that mallet was out

[HogFanatic]

I think you are confusing 06 with 05, the year bush was there and ark lost 70-17

Correct.
My bad. That one was a little better. We only gave up 50. Haha

[Ben]

Correct.
My bad. That one was a little better. We only gave up 50. Haha

Lol and better than the bama games the past 2 years

[rhames]

Correct.
My bad. That one was a little better. We only gave up 50. Haha

No worries.  Awesome name and avatar. Kenny Powers would approve.

[HogFanatic]

Yeah, it is easy to confuse those two games, actually.
Least for me anyways. I was so pissed off that I was falling down drunk by the fourth quarter wandering around Razorback Road looking for my car.

That was a g-damn disgrace.

[Professor Psychosis]

2006 team was close, but even if they had beaten LSU and Florida, I think we're #3 at best.  That was the year Ohio State and Michigan were #1/#2 and played a game that was decided by 3 points, and there was much talk of a rematch.  After USC (who was #2 after Michigan's loss) lost to UCLA, Florida won the SEC, jumped Michigan in the poll, and proceeded to destroy Ohio State.  I don't think Arkansas would've gotten the same benefit by the pollsters.

2011 wasn't that close because we got destroyed on the field in 2 key games that year.  The 2010 team had a better chance, but the bad officiating in the Auburn game at critical moments hurt us that year, oh, and the fact that we couldn't finish the Alabama game.

While it gets old losing the critical games during our best seasons, at this point, I'd just be happy to be back in the conversation.  We will get there, though, and maybe sooner than people expect.  Nobody saw 2006 coming after the bad '04-'05 seasons.

[Jek Tono Porkins]

2006. They dropped their season opener to USC but near the end of the season it didn't matter. They were #5 going into the LSU game and lost by 5 points. They were still #8 going into the SECCG and lost by ten. Had they beaten LSU and Florida, which they almost did, they would have punched their ticket to the NCG. The only other team that wouldn't have finished with two losses were Ohio State and Boise State.

In 2011, they finished with a better record, but they got absolutely thunderpunched by Alabama and LSU.

Basically, each team was two games away from getting to the NCG. Well actually, the 2011 team was one game away. But the 2006 team lost their two games by a combined 15 points while the 2011 team lost to Alabama and LSU by a combined 48 points. The 2006 team was closer.

[HogFanatic]

No worries.  Awesome name and avatar. Kenny Powers would approve.

If you see that Kenny Powers anywhere tell him I said his mother smells.

[BPsTheMan]

prediction

someone will blow a gasket by post #20 in this thread

I was wrong

[dj shanon "Notshavin" smeya]

No team could ever win it all with Nutt as HC.

[Magic_Hogg]

I will go with 2011 but this is a tough one.  AR's performance against USC in '05 and '06 was embarrassing.  We just were not competitive.  You can fire back by pointing out '11's losses but they were not as bad as '06 vs USC

[presidenthog]

For me i would say 2006. We matched up better with the teams we lost to than in 2011 with the lopsided losses. What do you think?

The 2010 team should have beat auburn and been in the natty. That was bp's best team

[HogFanatic]

I was wrong

People shouldn't be blowing gaskets this time of year over the football team.
Now, game day? Absolutely.
But not on 06 May.

[Pork Twain]

Pretty sure it didn't get out of hand until the third quarter. Could be wrong but our lack of a passing threat killed us. Play them later in the year and different outcome


If we beat lsu and then Florida that year we are in.

Thems some pretty big "ifs"

          1    2       3       4     T
USC    3    13    14    20   50
ARK    0    7      0      7     14

[Hogeration]

2010 was our best team in years and actually had the talent to win it all.  Should have won the Sugar bowl.  Had Bama and Auburn beat.  Sad to think that may be the closest we get for several years.

[Pork Twain]

2010 was our best team in years and actually had the talent to win it all.  Should have won the Sugar bowl.  Had Bama and Auburn beat.  Sad to think that may be the closest we get for several years.

If only we had, had a running game, we could have put Bama away.

[Uncommon]

The 2010 team actually had the best shot.  They were competitive in every game.

Alabama game was all on the Mallett interceptions.

Auburn game was on the refs and if Mallett had not been injured, maybe it would've been closer at the end even though Tyler played a heck of a game for a backup thrown into that type of situation.

Ohio State game, SCOOP AND SCORE.

[jabohog]

The 2011 team beat two teams with winning records, unless you count 6-6 as a winning record. That was a good year and season for us, but the conference was weak.

[popcornhog]

For me i would say 2006. We matched up better with the teams we lost to than in 2011 with the lopsided losses. What do you think?

Bout the same.

Maybe 06 just since we actually won the west and had a .0000001% chance of playing out way in against UF in Atlanta.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

2011.

We nixed our national title hopes by not firing nutt.

[bphi11ips]

2006 and it's not close.

[lumphog]

2006.....They had the horses but didn't have the coach

[hogfan14]

That 2006 USC game was with robert johnson at QB with mcfadden hurt and felix fumbling 3 times. Our 2011 losses we had pretty much the same roster that we had all year. 2006 was better IMO

[Pork Twain]

Sad state of affairs when we have to argue over which year would coulda come closer to winning it if it weren't for those darned losses.

[Magic_Hogg]

 You said it.  At the same time we do get close mist need to do.it more often.  I have always thought that being in the SEC had that perk - our stars will align at some point and when they do we are in the right place for a NC shot.

[goodguytex]

2010 was the closest. And we would have had a run game had Dennis Johnson not gotten his spleen ruptured during that Louisiana Monroe game. Knile just wasn't ready quite yet so Petrino mainly went with the transfer from USC... Can't remember his name. But he couldn't get much penetration. DJ plays, we win that game. Mallett doesn't get hurt, we play for the nc.

[HogFanatic]

2010 was the closest. And we would have had a run game had Dennis Johnson not gotten his spleen ruptured during that Louisiana Monroe game. Knile just wasn't ready quite yet so Petrino mainly went with the transfer from USC... Can't remember his name. But he couldn't get much penetration. DJ plays, we win that game. Mallett doesn't get hurt, we play for the nc.

Broderick Green.
He couldn't get much penetration because he was as big as a damn defensive end. He DID take one 99 yards to the house though and I was there on the second row for that game. Unfortunately that was against some team who was so unremarkable that I cannot even remember who they were.

If he had been utilized more properly, he would probably be playing in the NFL today.

[DLUXHOG]

1977....

[redeye]

I'd go with 2010, because the only thing that kept us out of the national championship game was Auburn.  Take out Cam Newton and all the help from the officials, and we would have likely played Oregon for the national title.  And, we led in the 4th quarter, so we were only 1 quarter away from going.

2011 was close on paper and I think beating LSU would have meant we would go.  But, there was no way we were going to beat LSU or Alabama, because they were on a different level then anyone else.  Plus, Arkansas had the better team in 2010.

The 2006 team wasn't even close on paper and Nutt's teams always fizzled when championships were on the line.  They actually played Florida much closer then I expected, even though I thought beforehand that they should beat them.

[redeye]

Sad state of affairs when we have to argue over which year would coulda come closer to winning it if it weren't for those darned losses.

You mean like the other 95% of teams do?

It's a sad state of affairs when we can't argue over which year we came closer.

[Pork Twain]

You mean like the other 95% of teams do?

It's a sad state of affairs when we can't argue over which year we came closer.

That is what we are doing, isn't it?  I am merely saying that I would like to have one major championship to think about during my lifetime other than the one that happened 11 years before I was born.  Hell I would even be happy with the SEC at this point.

I say 2010

[EastexHawg]

2011.

If we had beaten LSU in Baton Rouge we would have played in the national championship game.  We were ahead 14-0 and only trailed by one score (24-17) going into the 4th quarter.

For most of the day that game wasn't the blowout most people remember it to be.

In 2006 we were blown out at home in our first game and lost our last three.  I'm not sure how a four loss team can be closer to the BCSNCG than a team that was one quarter away from a berth.

[Pork Twain]

2011.

If we had beaten LSU in Baton Rouge we would have played in the national championship game.  We were ahead 14-0 and only trailed by one score (24-17) going into the 4th quarter.

For most of the day that game wasn't the blowout most people remember it to be.

In 2006 we were blown out at home in our first game and lost our last three.  I'm not sure how a four loss team can be closer to the BCSNCG than a team that was one quarter away from a berth.

Agree that 2006 was not even close.  We were destroyed by USC, beat at home by LSU and then wrapped it up with a loss to Florida.  If only we would have developed some semblance of a passing attack throughout the the year that did not involve the Wildcat.  What a huge waste of talent that year was.  Man could you imagine if we would have had BP back then or even BB.

I still say 2010 was the closest.  If we would have been able to establish the run vs Bama and catch a break vs Auburn.

[DeltaBoy]

2006

[MJ2]

2006 - loaded team & Gus on the sideline.   If only Nutt could have been the CEO and let the assistants make the decisions.

[Hogwild]

2006- we lost to LSU by 5 points
2011- we lost to LSU by 4 touchdowns

[The_Iceman]

The 2010 team with Ryan Mallett was the closest we've ever been. If it wasn't for Mallett's decisions in the Bama game....or the fact Gus and Auburn paid Cam Newton $250,000+ to go there....then we might have been in the NC game.

[Pork Twain]

2006
Destroyed to USC by 36
Lost to LSU at home by 5
Lost to Florida by 10
Lost to Wisky 14-17
Didn't really beat anyone to write home about

2010
Lost to #1 Bama by 4 (No running game established at all)
Lost to NC Auburn by 22 (SEC wanted to see Cam play for it all)
Lost to Ohio St by 5
Beat three very good teams including #5 LSU to close out the year

2011
Lost to Bama by 24
Lost to LSU by 24
Beat four very good teams