Rest Easy, SEC Fans; Your Conference Will Be OK

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Don't look now, but that Ohio State team that can't win on the big stage just won its second straight BCS bowl game.

The Buckeyes held on to beat SEC West runner-up Arkansas in a thrilling Sugar Bowl Tuesday night in New Orleans, 31-26.

OSU, long a target of SEC bloggers and that hurtful-words forum known as Twitter, raced to a 28-7 lead over the high-octane Razorbacks, then held on despite a Helter Skelter finish.

SEC fans will spin it this way: Ohio State almost choked the game away, the Buckeyes suited up a bunch of NCAA violators, they got lucky because Arkansas' receivers kept dropping passes, the Big Ten still sucks.

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OGS Spotlight Game Of The Week: Alabama at Arkansas

Mallett Won't Be Enough
To Save No. 10 Razorbacks

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Is this the week Ryan Mallett asserts himself as the Heisman front-runner with a signature victory?

Or will Saturday's showdown between No. 1 Alabama and No. 10 Arkansas bring Razorback Nation back to reality?

The Tide begin a three-game stretch against SEC foes all currently ranked among the OGS Top 15. After Saturday's tilt in Fayetteville, 'Bama returns home to play No. 8 Florida next week and then hits the road again to face No. 14 South Carolina on Oct. 9.

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No. 20: Arkansas Razorbacks

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Monday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 20 is Arkansas.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Bobby Petrino's third year at Louisville saw the Cardinals rack up more than 60 points in three of their first four wins in 2005. Quarterback Brian Brohm led one of the nation's most explosive offenses en route to a 9-3 record in the Derby City.

Petrino now begins his third season in Fayetteville, and he'll have another stud signalcaller in Ryan Mallett, back for his junior season, as well as a friendlier schedule than last year's ledger that included road games at Florida, Alabama and LSU.

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