ESPN’s FPI expects Hogs to handle business against Western Carolina
For the second straight year, Arkansas is favored to win their season opener. Only this time, it’s projected to not even be close.
Representing the FCS’s Southern Conference, the Western Carolina Catamounts will roll into War Memorial Stadium as heavy underdogs against the Razorbacks. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Arkansas a 99 percent chance to take care of business in their first game.
That 99 percent chance is much larger than what the Football Power Index gave the Hogs in their season-opener against Cincinnati last year – with good reason. Western Carolina is coming off of a subpar 2022 season under Kerwin Bell, where they finished just 6-5.
At the end of the day, though, this is college football and anything can happen once that whistle blows. Arkansas fans should know better than anyone that you have to respect each and every opponent on your schedule. The Hogs lost to Liberty as heavy favorites last season, and back in 2015 were upset 16-12 by the Toledo Rockets at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Anything can happen in the wild world of college football.
Arkansas and Western Carolina will now kickoff at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
