Barnyard Brawl

Okay boys and girls, it's Pigs vs. Chickens later today when Arkansas and South Carolina take the field against one another.

The Hogs / Gamecocks rivalry is an interesting one. You wouldn't normally think two schools from opposite sides of the conference would develop a rivalry at all. But Arkansas and South Carolina have a certain connection with one another due to the fact that they came into the Southeastern Conference together back in 1992.

The two schools are also inter-divisional rivals, meaning that they play one another yearly even though Arkansas is in the SEC West and South Carolina is in the SEC East. (Every SEC team has one such inter-divisional opponent.)

Arkansas has generally gotten the better of SC in recent years, having won 4 out of the past 5 meetings. And the Gamecocks have been hampered offensively due to the loss of star RB Marcus Lattimore to a season-ending injury. Even so, this game worries me. The Gamecocks' struggles on offense haven't stopped Coach Spurrier's club from marching to a 7-1 record. And Arkansas has had its own difficulties of late, playing very flatly in the first halves of its past two games (against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt).

So let's move on to a very tentative prediction...

Last week: Arkansas 31, Vanderbilt 28 (Me: Hogs 34, Vandy 14)

Arkansas' record: 7-1 (Me: 7-1)

This week: Arkansas Razorbacks vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

Location: Razorback Stadium - Fayetteville, AR

Prediction: Pigs 28, Chickens 17

Reason: With Arkansas and South Carolina, you've got two good, well-coached teams with a lot of similarities. Both have had their ups and downs, but both have also managed to persevere through most of the 'downs' and as a result find themselves ranked in the Top 10. I'm going with the Hogs in this one, for a couple of reasons. One is that this is a home game at night for the Razorbacks, which is a scenario that always favors the home team. And the second is the overall offensive firepower that Arkansas possesses, which I think will be enough to score some points against SC's very tough defense. Let's just hope the Hogs get a good start out of the gate.