Needless to say, Rasputin, our deeply moody staff soothsayer, took the loss to LSU incredibly hard. He stayed in bed for weeks, with the most searing Russian vodka imaginable his only sustenance. Only after our in-house doctor subjected him to a comprehensive regimen of acupuncture, Omega-3 fatty acids, SAM-e, Rhodiola, St. John's wort and shiatsu massage, did Raz start to come around.

Also needless to say, he is nervous about this game. He's viewed every single Razorback bowl game, either in person or on television, and has suffered many a broken heart as a result of the Hogs' countless miserable performances. Rasputin, who attended the last match-up between these two programs - an October 1967 Razorback victory in War Memorial Stadium - with a bizarre conglomeration that included members of the Strawberry Alarm Clock, Civil War historian Shelby Foote and Richard Nixon's daughter Julie, delivered the following prognostication via homing pigeon from Petit Jean Mountain, a place that he has always found very meaningful:

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The Cotton Bowl is almost here. To help you get through the remaining hours - and to help you know a little bit more about the Hogs' opponent - we present this Q&A with TB, the manager of Bring on the Cats, SB Nation's Kansas State Wildcats blog. Many thanks to TB for his insight and time. Read on to get his analysis of this year's Wildcats team, his take on the magic of Bill Snyder and his forecast for the Cotton Bowl.

Give us an overall picture of the strengths and weaknesses of this year's Kansas State team.

Offensively, K-State is pretty solid running the ball. Collin Klein leads the way with running back-like numbers, and John Hubert has been a solid running back when healthy. The passing game is nothing to write home about, but after the rushing attack lulls opposing defenses to sleep, they know how to hit a play-action pass.

On defense, K-State is probably the most-improved team in the country stopping the run, going from 119th in 2010 to 39th this season. A lot of that can be attributed to the addition of Arthur Brown, but the play of DL Ray Kibble helped a lot. But for all the improvement in rushing defense, K-State's passing defense has been pretty bad. Against the high-powered spread attacks in the Big 12, K-State's best chance to stop opposing offenses was often forcing turnovers.

What aspect of the Razorbacks are you most excited about facing, and what component of the Hogs has you the most worried?

It looks like K-State should be able to have some success running the ball. Arkansas certainly isn't bad at stopping the run, but they would be about the middle of the pack in the Big 12, where K-State averaged almost 200 yards per game on the ground. And even if the rushing yards don't always translate into points, they eat up the clock and keep the Razorback offense on the sideline. Which leads me to what I'm concerned about, which is...

...without a doubt quarterback Tyler Wilson and his wide receivers. The Razorbacks appear to have a passing game comparable to some of the better Big 12 attacks, and most of the time K-State was happy just to slow down those outfits.

Bill Synder has had a remarkable career at Kansas State. Give us some insight into the man - what's the secret to his success?

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It's time for another edition of our Grammy-winning Hog Call Podcast. Today's esteemed guest is Chris Bahn, editor of ArkansasSports360.com and Heisman Trophy voter (we settle for nothing less than A-list guests around here).

Chris joins Stephen to talk about his vote for Robert Griffin III (note: Griffin's name was blatantly inserted here for SEO purposes), the departure of Willy Robinson, the Cotton Bowl match-up against Kansas State, and the basketball team's surprisingly strong showing against UConn and their game tomorrow against Oklahoma.

Many thanks to Chris for his time and insight!

To hear this episode, hit the play button on the widget below. Download the episode and subscribe to the podcast by visiting TalkShoe or iTunes.

It should go without saying that Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and centuries-old Russian immigrant, has been a bundle of nerves all week. The program-defining importance of the LSU game has him drinking more heavily than normal, and he's mostly been muttering about the time he won a fistfight with Gov. Huey P. Long on the steps of the Louisiana state capitol back in 1929. But, his commitment to the dark art of prognostication remains strong, and this afternoon a yellowed piece of parchment with the following words scrawled on it in fountain pen was slipped under our office door:

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In anticipation of tomorrow's matchup against Mississippi State, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction. Ol' Raz particularly enjoys Little Rock games because they allow him to renew the special "friendship" with Sweet Connie Hamzy that dates back to his stint as a roadie for Black Oak Arkansas in the late 70s. At any rate, although this week he's mainly been preoccupied with stashing bottles of vodka all over the War Memorial golf course for maximum tailgating efficiency, the following prognostication arrived at our offices via homing pigeon right on time this morning:

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Here it is, the place for your pre- and in-game comments.

Woo Pig Sooie!!

In anticipation of tomorrow's battle against Tennessee, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. An exceedingly emotional and volatile man, Rasputin did not eat for 13 weeks after Clint Stoerner's fumble in 1998 and slept a total of only 23 minutes during that same period. Here's hoping this weekend's game does not have the same effect on him. His forecast is after the jump:

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In anticipation of tomorrow's battle against South Carolina, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. He had fallen into a deep depression caused by the lackluster effort at Vanderbilt and Marquel Wade's ensuing suspension, so it was hard to coax any information out of him, but finally Rasputin - who once engaged in a drunken brawl with noted Gamecocks fan Darius Rucker in a Myrtle Beach Hooters - offered the following prognostication:

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(Editor's Note: we apologize for the late posting, but Rasputin, like many of our staffers, was up until the wee hours last night watching the Cardinals' thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Rangers.]

In anticipation of tomorrow's battle against Vanderbilt, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. After spending hours upon hours chanting, fasting and praying, Rasputin - who once lost a paternity suit filed against him by Nashville legend Minnie Pearl - offered the following prognostication:

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In anticipation of tomorrow's battle against Ole Miss, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. After spending hours upon hours chanting, fasting and praying, Rasputin - who spent the bye week cavorting with old flame Barbara Walters on nude beaches in the south of France - offered the following prognostication:

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Every week we helpfully offer a few reasons to hate the Hogs' upcoming SEC opponent. This week, we're happy to focus our ire on the Auburn Tigers.

1. Rampant Cheating. Cam Newton was one of the most amazing talents we've ever seen set foot on a college football field. Cam Newton was also paid handsomely to be on that field. Yeah, we've read all the frenzied arguments as to why it's not true from Auburn fans, but when you apply basic logic it's seems fairly obvious that something fishy was going on (unless Starkville is so horrible that he'd take a $180,000 pay cut to go elsewhere). Also, as this thoroughly researched article from hogdb.com proves, it's not a new phenomenon either...Auburn has been cheating like mad almost non-stop for as long as most people can remember.

2. Gene Chizik. If there was ever a less impressive coach to win a major title, we have yet to see it (ok, Barry Switzer winning a Super Bowl with Dallas probably qualifies). Luckily for him, he has Gus Malzahn in his corner, which can hide a lot of flaws and also leads us to our next item...

3. Too Many Damn Arkansans. Once it was Kody Burns and Lee Ziemba, now it's Mike Dyer and Kiehl Frazier...there's a disturbing trend for the Natural State's top high school players to head down to the Plains for college. Not cool. It almost makes one wonder if the first item on this list has anything to do with it. Nah, surely not!

4. 65-43. No further comment.

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In anticipation of tomorrow's battle against Texas A&M, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. A deeply emotional and volatile man who has been a rabid Razorback football fan since the program's debut in 1894, Rasputin has been in a serious, serious funk since last Saturday's shellacking at the hands of the Crimson Tide. He has been sleeping 20 hours a day and passing the other four hours by crying hysterically and chugging vodka madly.

He did find a moments to retire to his snake-filled meditation chamber, where he formulated the following forecast:

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We can feel the steely, disapproving glare of our junior-high civics teachers, as we have not been exercising our right to vote in the SEC Power Poll this fall. Well, that stops now.

We have been inspired by the heroics of the Arab Spring, and it is our solemn vow to you to once again cast a poorly informed and half-baked ballot each and every week. God bless America.

Without further ado and without comment 'cause we're pressed for time, here's our ballot:

1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. South Carolina
4. Florida
5. Arkansas
6. Auburn
7. Georgia
8. Tennessee
9. Mississippi State
10. Vanderbilt
11. Kentucky
12. Ole Miss (OK, one comment: Who can't watch Ole Miss' struggles this year and be reminded of the Greek chorus of talking heads who, as the 2007 season played out, said Arkansas would be foolish to get rid of HDN?)

In anticipation of today's battle against Alabama, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. A deeply emotional and volatile man, Rasputin has been a rabid Razorbacks football fan since the program's debut in 1894.

His game forecast is after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

Now that the non-conference cupcake portion of the Razorbacks' schedule is out of the way, it's time to bring back our weekly Q&A's with a blogger of the Hogs' upcoming opponent. As you may heard, this Saturday's matchup is kind of a big one, so we're especially pleased to share the following Q&A with the guys from the excellent Alabama blog, Roll Bama Roll. (And be sure to check out our answers to their questions.) Enjoy!

Give us the lowdown on new starting quarterback A.J. McCarron. What are his strengths and weaknesses and - to use that familiar high-school-essay question - how does he compare and contrast with Greg McElroy?

We were all pretty worried about the impending QB battle/controversy between McCarron and Phillip Sims, but thankfully that really hasn't materialized and McCarron came into the season as the clear cut choice at starter despite what was a very close race during the spring. Both McCarron and Sims were highly touted recruits coming out of high school, and we've actively tried to bring in guys that are elite level QBs instead of just game managers but let's face it, we're Alabama and we're not going to ask our QBs to win games if we don't have to.

McCarron has so far looked solid, but we haven't had much of a test yet with powerhouses like Kent State and North Texas on the schedule. In both of those games we were clearly experimenting with our personnel a lot on offense; we were giving both McCarron and Sims snaps, shuffling the offensive line early and often, and rotating a lot of receivers (including a true freshman in the first series against North Texas), and I think McCarron suffered some for it. In both of those games he came out as the starter and led solid drives, then quickly lost his rhythm after yielding to Sims and returning later or working behind a shuffled line. The only game that we can really give a fair evaluation of his performance so far is at Penn State. His numbers look good in that game (19-of-31 (61.3%) for 163 yards and 1 TD), but I think the best thing we can say about his performance is that he never genuinely tried to force anything (though that's debatable depending on who you ask), didn't turn the ball over, and looked calm and in command of the offense in the first road start of his career. Again, we're not really going to ask our QBs to win games for us if we don't have to, and so far we haven't had to ask that much of him. But what we have asked him to do he's managed to do without too many first time starter mistakes, and that's about the best you can expect.

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That's right Hog fans: autumn is officially here, meaning it's time for fall leaves, crisp evenings and REASONS TO HATE the Razorbacks' upcoming opponent. It's Alabama week, so like a wise old man once said, let your hatred flow:

1. This Time It's Personal. We almost hate to mention it, but it's time we got this off our chests: before this site launched (as RazorbackExpats.com) back in 2007, the Hogs had an entirely respectable 8-8 record vs the Tide since joining the SEC. Since then, however, it's been nothing but misery in the form of a heartbreaker in Tuscaloosa, a blowout in Fayetteville, a blowout in Tuscaloosa and then, of course, last year's heartbreaker in Fayetteville. It's fair to say there may even be something of an Expats-related curse in effect (possibly due to the Bear's wrath over this post). We won't take it personally if you blame us a little bit.

2. Last Year. Need we say more?

3. Nick Saban. There are many reasons to hate Saban: his joyless (lack of) personality, his Napoleon complex, his incredible dancing ability. But most of all, he's hatable because he wins...a lot. More specifically, he's won all four times he's faced off against Arkansas, and that's just not cool. We've seen the sight of his tiny legs carrying him off the field after beating the Hogs, probably going straight into the locker room to dine on a feast of boiled puppies and fried kittens, way too often, and it needs to stop.

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Back by neither popular nor critical demand, it's our Hog Call Podcast.

In today's episode, Stephen and John visit with Derek Jenkins, the man formerly known as the Arkansas Times' A Boy Named Sooie and, as a resident of the Great White North, a true Razorback expat.

Topics discussed include the sluggish victory over Troy, the upcoming showdown against Alabama (save the hate mail!), Houston Nutt's struggles, Gene Chizik's disturbing lack of sideburns, Nick Saban's capacity for glee and the expansion of the SEC (spoiler alert: we're not terribly interested in it).

Many thanks to Derek for his time and insight. We're hoping he'll visit these parts again soon.

To hear all of this and more, hit the play button on the widget below. Download the episode and subscribe to the podcast by visiting TalkShoe or iTunes.

In anticipation of tomorrow's contest against Troy, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his forecast for the game. Rasputin, who before last week's game delivered a prediction that was both heartbreaking and dead-on accurate, has been a rabid Razorback football fan since the program's debut in 1894. Sadly, his amazing accuracy did nothing to soothe his troubled soul. In need of a little centering, he traveled to perhaps his favorite spot on Earth: Stonehenge. After a few day's worth of chanting, fasting and yoga at that ancient marvel, he emailed us the following forecast: 

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History With the Hogs: This will be the third meeting between the Hogs and Trojans in the past few years. In 2007, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones carried the Hogs to a semi-impressive 46-26 victory (ultra die-hard fans of this site may recall that it was the first game we ever covered), and 2009 Ryan Mallett threw for approximately 800 yards in a 56-26 rout.

The Head Man: Troy coach Larry Blakeney is both less pugilistic and more successful than the subject of last week's opponent profile, having compiled a 161-83-1 record in his 21 seasons with the Trojans. They've also been to bowl games five of the past seven seasons.

Strengths: Blakeney's teams usually have some offensive playmakers, and this year's group is no exception. Sophomore QB Corey Robinson leads a spread attack that rang up 423 yards (but only 19 points) against Clemson. Make no mistake - the Trojans have talent, and are a significantly better team than the Razorbacks' first two opponents this year.

Weaknesses: The Trojans started strong against Clemson, leading 16-13 at halftime, but ran out of gas in the 2nd half as the Tigers pulled away for the rout. It seems likely that the Hogs' superior depth and seemingly endless supply of playmakers will have a similar effect. Furthermore, Troy gave up a kickoff return for a TD in their previous game...a fact that has no doubt been happily noted by Joe Adams and Marquel Wade.

Son of Super Sid: One of Troy's top threats is preseason All-Sun Belt receiver Brett Moncrief. If that last name sounds familiar it's because his dad used to play a little basketball in Fayetteville back in the 70s.

True Story: Troy University was the subject of a 2004 movie starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom. Pitt's portrayal of Larry Blakeney has been hailed as one of the finest of his career, and to this day remains an unfortunate example of a notorious Oscar snub.

Final Thought: Although the Hogs likely will keep their game plan fairly vanilla in anticipation of pulling out all the stops against Alabama, they can't afford to overlook the Trojans too much. It's worth remembering that in 2008 Troy jumped out to a 31-3 third quarter lead against LSU before succumbing to an epic comeback.

In anticipation of tomorrow's "battle" against New Mexico in da Rock, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. Rasputin, who is rumored to have written and arranged the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" and to have produced several of the other tracks on their "Days of Future Passed" album, has been a rabid Razorback football fan since the program's debut in 1894. He brought us the following forecast after a three-day fast (save for a little peyote here and there) on his favorite Arkansas mountain. 

The forecast is after the jump:

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Before SEC games we typically provide a few Reasons to Hate the upcoming opponent, but since cupcakes like New Mexico don't warrant a lot of ire we've instead decided to bring back an old friend from the early days of the Petrino Era. 

Biggs Barker is a convicted cybercriminal and former domestic wiretapper who also happens to be an enormous Razorbacks fan. He's been kind enough to take a break from his day job of stealing online credit card data to dig up some dirt on behalf of the Hogs. Enjoy his findings, but be sure to keep your computer passwords far away from his prying eyes.

Team: University of New Mexico

Location: Albuquerque

Mascot: Lobos

Conference: Mountain West

2010 Record: 1-11

2011 Record: 0-1 (14-10 loss to Colorado State)

A Tale of Heroic Survival Against All Odds: It's possible that no coach has ever failed more successfully than the Lobos' Mike Locksley, a Ron Zook protegé who managed to keep his job after posting consecutive 1-11 seasons AND being hit with a nasty sexual discrimination suit AND punching an assistant coach in the face. The reason? Thanks to a large buyout clause, firing him would simply be too expensive for the cash-strapped school. College athletics at its finest!

Strengths: On the field, not so much. Their coach is said to have a vicious right cross, though, so Bobby Petrino would be well-advised to keep his guard up during the post-game handshake.

Weaknesses: Well, pretty much everything. Of particular note (as called out by the RazorBloggers), is the fact that no one on New Mexico's defensive line weighs more than 280 lbs...might be a good time to get that running game on track.

A Rank Odor: UNM doesn't exactly have a strong recent track record against ranked opponents. Last year they were able to keep with 42 points of #14 Utah in a hard-fought 56-14 loss and were edged by #4 TCU 66-17. The true triumph, though, was a 72-0 squeaker against #7 Oregon. Yikes.

True Story: UNM's mascot was the Bears until 1980 when the school president, a huge Claude Akins fan, decided to change it in honor of this fine television show. The name stuck, and Akins was feted at every homecoming game until his death in 1994.

Bowl Trivia: New Mexico has won the exact same number of bowl games as Arkansas in the last five years: one (a 23-0 win over Nevada in the 2007 New Mexico Bowl).

Worth Mentioning Again: Mere weeks into his first season as the Lobos' head coach, Mike Locksley punched receivers coach J.B. Gerald in the face. Locksley is still employed by UNM, Gerald is not. Amazing!

In anticipation of tomorrow's season-opening tilt against Missouri State, we asked Rasputin, our staff soothsayer and a seemingly ageless Russian immigrant, to offer his prediction for the game. As you may remember, Rasputin, a rabid Razorback football fan since the program's debut in 1894, is an exceedingly emotional man, prone to deep, vodka-fueled depressions after Hog losses or other any bad team news. Unsurprisingly, this has been a tough summer for Raz. He was just beginning to emerge from his post-Sugar Bowl funk when Knile Davis broke his ankle. Quite honestly, we don't know if we've ever seen the man so distraught for so long. It's been painful to watch. The 2011 season needs to be a good one - this man can't take much more suffering.

His forecast is after the jump:

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The SB Nation iPhone app is now available in the App Store! And it's Free!

Now you can stay on top of all the latest news and commentary from Arkansas Expats and all 300+ SB Nation blogs from your iPhone. With the SB Nation iPhone app you can:

• Get the latest, breaking sports news as it happens
• Customize your news with your favorite teams, sports and blogs (including Arkansas Expats)
• Get notified of updates to the stories you choose to follow on SBNation.com, regional sites, Baseball Nation, and MMA Nation
• Read and reply to comments

Here's how to get it:

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According to our sundials and water clocks, the start of the 2011 Razorback football season is less than two weeks away. To help while away the pre-season's remaining hours, we decided to it was time to check in with our friend Chris Bahn, editor of the outstanding ArkansasSports360.com.

In this episode of "Hog Call," Stephen pesters Chris for his take on the running back situation in the wake of Knile Davis' injury and also gets Bahn's perspective on Greg Childs' somewhat halting recovery from his knee injury. Other covered topics include Bobby Petrino's relatively relaxed demeanor, concerns about Zach Hocker's expanded duties and - save the hate mail! - Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze, whom Chris describes as a cross between Houston Nutt and Gus Malzahn (now that's a combo).

To hear all of this and more, hit the play button on the widget below. Download the episode by visiting our show's home page, where you also can subscribe to the podcast by clicking on the orange RSS, the purple iTunes or the white Subscribe icon. 

We're in serious need of talk therapy here today at Arkansas Expats Inc., so we decided that recording another installment of our "Hog Call" podcast was the perfect way to deal with our ankle-induced depression. Joining Stephen in today's episode is Bob Holt, a longtime Razorback beat reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Of course, Stephen and Bob discuss the Knile Davis injury and how the Razorbacks will cope without the SEC's leading rusher. Without giving too much away, Bob thinks thinks they can. Stephen also presses Bob for his answer to an even more important question: Does Willy Robinson or Steve Caldwell have the better mustache? The two also discuss Tyler Wilson, Greg Childs, Bob's prediction for the 2011 football team and an impressive catch by Ken Hatfield. They even talk a little hoops at the end.

To hear all of this and more, hit the play button on the widget below. Download the episode by visiting our show's home page, where you also can subscribe to the podcast by clicking on the orange RSS, the purple iTunes or the white Subscribe icon. One note: the audio cuts off for a few seconds right around the 9 minute mark. Resist the urge to panic. We apologize for the glitch.

When talking with Phil Steele, one can be forgiven for wondering if he or she is chatting not with a man, but with a machine. The amount of football knowledge packed into his brain is simply astounding. We can't imagine that anybody on the planet knows more about the game we love than Phil.

In this episode of our "Hog Call" podcast, we chat with Phil, the editor and publisher of the annual Phil Steele College Football Preview and the proprietor of the excellent PhilSteele.com, about the 2011 Razorback football team and the SEC. Spoiler alert: Phil is high on the Hogs. A few teaser quotes:

* "I think Arkansas is now in the national title contenders role on a yearly basis."

* "This is clearly a great team."

* "They're at their strongest point that they've been at in quite some time."

Phil also predicts the Hogs to go 10-2 in the regular season, says Knile Davis could enter the Heisman Trophy picture if things break right and doesn't become Chicken Little when discussing the offensive line. To hear all of this and more, hit the play button on the widget below. Download the episode by visiting our show's home page, where you also can subscribe to the podcast by clicking on the orange RSS, the purple iTunes or the white Subscribe icon.