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1998 Arkansas

9–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1998, game by game: won vs. Louisiana 38–17; won vs. SMU 44–17; won vs. No. 22 Alabama 42–6; won vs. Kentucky 27–20; won at Memphis 23–9; won at South Carolina 41–28; won at Auburn 24–21; won vs. Ole Miss 34–0; lost at No. 1 Tennessee 24–28; lost at Mississippi State 21–22; won vs. LSU 41–14; lost vs. No. 15 Michigan 31–45+36−14Won 38–17 vs. Louisiana+21LouisianaWon 44–17 vs. SMU+27SMUWon 42–6 vs. No. 22 Alabama+36No. 22 AlabamaWon 27–20 vs. Kentucky+7KentuckyWon 23–9 at Memphis+14MemphisWon 41–28 at South Carolina+13South CarolinaWon 24–21 at Auburn+3AuburnWon 34–0 vs. Ole Miss+34Ole MissLost 24–28 at No. 1 Tennessee-4No. 1 TennesseeLost 21–22 at Mississippi State-1Mississippi Sta…Won 41–14 vs. LSU+27LSULost 31–45 vs. No. 15 Michigan-14No. 15 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsLouisianaW 38–⁠1774%
Sep 19vsSMUW 44–⁠1760%
Sep 26vs22AlabamaW 42–⁠649%
Oct 3vsKentuckyW 27–⁠2059%
Oct 10atMemphisW 23–⁠969%
Oct 17atSouth CarolinaW 41–⁠2861%
Oct 31atAuburnW 24–⁠2147%
Nov 7vsOle MissW 34–⁠060%
Nov 14at1TennesseeL 24–⁠2824%
Nov 21atMississippi StateL 21–⁠2247%
Nov 27vsLSUW 41–⁠1462%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs15MichiganCitrus BowlL 31–⁠4537%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan 45–⁠31 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 22
  2. Wk 6: 20
  3. Wk 7: 17
  4. Wk 8: 15
  5. Wk 9: 14
  6. Wk 10: 11
  7. Wk 11: 10
  8. Wk 12: 9
  9. Wk 13: 13
  10. Wk 14: 11
  11. Wk 15: 11
  12. Final: 16

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1998.

SEC West champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Mississippi State

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 9
Points
390–⁠227
Coach
Houston Nutt
Elo
1618 +163 this season
SP+ rating
19.2 No. 14 of 112; offense No. 17, defense No. 19
SRS
15.3 No. 17 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinators
Bobby Allen and Keith Burns
Captains
Brandon Burlsworth, Grant Garrett, Ryan Hale and Madre Hill
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠4

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 3Brandon Burlsworth OGIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Melvin Bradley LBArizona Cardinals
Rd 7Madre Hill RBCleveland Browns
Rd 7Ryan Hale DTNew York Giants

All-SEC

2 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee8–⁠013–⁠01
Florida7–⁠110–⁠25
Georgia6–⁠29–⁠314
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠316
Mississippi State6–⁠28–⁠5
Alabama4–⁠47–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠5
LSU2–⁠64–⁠7
Auburn1–⁠73–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠72–⁠9
South Carolina0–⁠81–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.