by Ronald Sitton

North Little Rock (Nov. 12) - "Woooooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!"

Last night I watched the Razorbacks humble my alma mater 31-14. If you don't know me, you might think I'd have mixed feelings. The truth: I pull for Tennessee whenever they're not playing Arkansas.

Even though I watched from home, I felt a bond with the majority of the record-breaking 76,758 people who stayed in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to see the end. Never before did a win over the Volunteers come so easy.

For a moment, I thought I might be getting superstitious. After all, I've sat in my recliner week-after-week watching the Razorbacks. I thought back on the eight games Arkansas appeared on television and the two games I had to listen to the radio to catch. I remembered sitting in a sports bar in St. Louis to catch the Louisiana-Monroe game; I smile. I'm going somewhere else next week just to keep away from superstition.

For the first time in history, Arkansas will play at least 10 games (and possibly more) on television this year. Prior to this season, Arkansas held a .444 winning percentage in televised games with a 86-108-2 record. Arkansas lost its first nationally televised game to Ole Miss in 1953, and plowed its way to a 20-38-1 record on national television by 1992. Luckily, the Razorbacks owned a 33-16-1 record on regional television in the same period, for a 53-54-2 record on television prior to entering the Southeastern Conference.

Since joining the SEC, Arkansas has enjoyed more televised opportunities than it ever did in its Southwestern Conference days. The 1988 Razorbacks won five regionally televised games to go 7-0 and win the SWC championship, but lost two nationally televised games to end the season. Both the 1999 and 2002 Hogs matched the seven televised games, while the 1998 and 2004 Hogs played eight and the 2001 and 2003 Hogs played nine.

Yet while enjoying more time on the tube, the Hogs enjoyed fewer wins with a 13-20 regional mark and a 20-33 national mark up through last year, for an overall SEC mark of 33-53 for a 38 percent winning total. That's not something you brag about to recruits. However, Nutt owned an 8-9 regional and 17-23 national record in televised games prior to this season.

It's no wonder national voters have had a hard time moving the Hogs up in the rankings. The last time the Razorbacks got in the Top 10 in 2003, they got as high as No. 7 before dropping three straight. In the last two years, Arkansas owned a 1-7 record in nationally televised games and a 1-4 record in regionally televised games. Recruits want to play on TV, but not get beaten on TV.

Following the nationally televised win over the Volunteers, Arkansas jumped to No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and moved to 5-1 in national telecasts and 2-0 in regional telecasts on the year. Winning nearly 88 percent of your TV games also attracts recruits. Arkansas 6-0 SEC start marks the best in school history, while the 9-0 run represents the best since the Hogs started 10-0 in 1998.

Even if no station picks up the opportunity to show the Razorbacks possibly clinching the SEC-West in Starkville next weekend, the remainder of the season appears on national television. The UA-LSU game will mark the team's ninth television appearance this season and a bowl game will make 10 games on TV, with an 11th if the Razorbacks play in the SEC Championship game against Florida.

If that kind of exposure won't help Darren McFadden's Heisman push, I don't know what will.

501 blues

Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel blogged that he'd take Arkansas over Florida because "the Razorbacks are the hottest one-loss team in the country –- and Darren McFadden has got to be climbing up that Heisman chart." The Los Angeles Times described his stint as tailback, quarterback and wide receiver against Tennessee as "Star Material." ESPN commentator Ed Cunningham said after the game that he plans to switch his Heisman vote from Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith to McFadden.

According to the post-game comments, even his opponents sing praise. Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer called McFadden "the best back we have seen this year." After chasing McFadden all night, Tennessee linebacker Ryan Karl said, "They have the best running back I've seen since I've been here and I've been here three years.”

McFadden notched his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game - his sixth this season – while running for 181 yards and two touchdowns, throwing for a third touchdown and becoming only the fourth running back to crack the century mark against the Tennessee defense in 34 games. In the last two games, McFadden rushed for 400 yards with four touchdowns.

After rushing for 1,113 yards as a freshman, he has already gained 1,219 yards rushing and scored for the seventh straight game this season. His 12 touchdowns ties for the ninth-most in a single season in school history, while his 23 career touchdowns rank ninth and his 11 career 100-yard games ties for fourth in school history.

Those kind of numbers scream Heisman potential - if not this year, probably next. However, I wince every time McFadden strikes his body-builder pose to show off the "501" on his biceps, which represents the area code of Little Rock, his home town. Granted, he waited until he was nearly on the sideline this game. But it's already cost the Razorbacks an unsportsmanlike penalty against South Carolina this year. A second penalty likely happens in a more important game.

SEC Recap

I got up yesterday in time to watch College Gameday, which came to Fayetteville for the first time in history. If I start prognosticating, it's due to watching the crowd lose its mind when ESPN's Lee Corso put a mascot's hog hat on his head, indicating he thought No. 11 Arkansas would take out Tennessee. Kirk Herbstreit donned a normal version of the hog hat.