| | 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.
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