Well, folks, I found this thread only because a long-time sports writer I know posted it on Facebook with the following quote ...
"Kansas State has emerged as the clear leader for most delusional fan base in the country."
No one can dispute that the SEC is the strongest conference in the NCAA in football, as they now will have six consecutive national championships. Yes, the Big 12 is strong in their own right, but the way things have been going do we honestly expect that conference to even exist much longer?
Let's stop with all the insults and trolling and take a look at some of the facts in this match-up:
2011 Overall FBS Rankings
Passing yards: Arkansas, 13th overall with 307.8 ypg; Kansas St. 109th with 149.8 ypg -
Advantage: ArkansasRushing yards: Arkansas, 81st overall with 138.1 ypg; Kansas St. 29th with 193.7 ypg -
Advantage: Kansas St.Points for: Arkansas, 15th overall with 37.4 ppg; Kansas St. 30th overall with 33.1 ppg -
Advantage: ArkansasPoints against: Arkansas, 37th with 22.8 ppg; Kansas St. 71st with 27.8 -
Advantage: ArkansasNow let's look at the schedules, with games against opponents who were ranked at the time of game:
Arkansas
Lost to #3 Alabama
Beat #14 Texas A&M
Beat #15 Auburn
Beat #9 South Carolina
Lost to #1 LSU
Kansas St.
Beat #15 Baylor
Lost to #9 Oklahoma
Lost to #3 Oklahoma State
Beat #23 Texas
Looks to me like Arkansas has everything, except perhaps your rushing advantage, going its way in this match-up. And you Kansans want to talk about "Oh, we are going to lose respect by playing a team like Arkansas?" Let's keep the talk about football programs and not about corn, cows, pigs or inbreeding.
Arkansas was obviously getting more respect this year than KSU was. UA was ranked 15th in AP and 14th in USA Today in preseason. KSU is nowhere to be found. Not that I put any stock in preseason polls (personally, I think they should be abolished) but they at least show you who the pundits are giving respect to. Kansas State didn't show up in either poll until Week Six. Thankfully, by the time the BCS comes out things are starting to take shape and KSU was given some respect at #11. Arkansas was #9. However, while the highest BCS ranking KSU got was #8 (held twice, by the way), Arkansas had moved up to #3.
This led to all the talk in college football news circles being about the dominance of the SEC. After all, they had the top three teams in the nation at one time. Arkansas was even being discussed as a possibility for getting into the National Championship game if they were to pull the upset over LSU. (Yeah, like that was going to happen. Arkansas did put LSU in their biggest deficit of the year, but got spanked in the end.)
Now... if you've actually read all of this and haven't just skimmed it quickly looking for the first thing you can troll...
All of this was written not for me to pound my chest and say "We Arkansas ... Kill KSU!" It is simply to address the original question and respond, in summary ... Are you nuts? How can playing a team that was considered a possible championship contender, who has been ranked all year long and was as high as #3, and who most people are recognizing are building an excellent program right now under Petrino, POSSIBLY hurt KSU?
Oh, and for the record fellas ... I'm the buffer here ... I live in Missouri.