Arkansas's Drop Out Of The Top 25 Is Second Only To Michigan's After The Appalachian State Debacle

Remember about 17 hours ago, when the Arkansas Razorbacks lost to 30-point underdog Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock? SEC teams that lose to Sun Belt teams can expect to take a dip in the rankings, but this one is especially dramatic: Arkansas fell from eighth to nowhere in this week's version of the AP Poll. Not since Michigan lost to Appalachian State in 2007 has a team taken a steeper dive, nor had any prior to the Appalachian State upset. (Michigan fell out of the top 25 after having been fifth the previous week.) The AP Poll is a strange and capricious thing, but within the world of college football, the consensus seems to be that the Razorbacks were good before yesterday and now, officially, suck — more drastically and in bigger contrast to the day before yesterday than almost any other team ever.

Part of that is losing quarterback Tyler Wilson, who had been playing well up until a concussion put him on the sidelines after the half—AP voters may be wary, because this is the second consecutive week Wilson has been held out in the second half, both times with concussions. Arkansas was depleted elsewhere too: With 7:26 left in the fourth and Arkansas up a touchdown, cornerback Tevin Mitchel suffered a scary injury and was taken off field on a stretcher. Updates on his condition are still forthcoming — and the lack thereof might explain why the Razorbacks lost focus — but the AP dropped Arkansas out of the top 25 anyway.

Those injuries are certainly a better excuse than Michigan had—they were just stoned out of their collective mind when they lost to Appalachian State. Either way, Alabama (still number one) comes into Fayetteville next week, so the Razorbacks should have an easy one to shake off the bad vibes and get their momentum back.