Sam Pittman wants Oklahoma and Texas as permanent rivals, sends message before SEC move

When Arkansas left the Southwest Conference in 1992 in favor of the SEC, he left behind some heated, regional rivalries. One has been back brought with Texas A&M but now, Texas will be back in the fold within the next few seasons. Even Oklahoma would bring an interesting matchup for the Razorbacks, at least to head coach Sam Pittman.

When Pittman was asked if he would want both Texas and Oklahoma as permanent rivals, he responded with a quick and emphatic “yes.” He went on to expand, talking about how much fun playing the Longhorns was last season. Add in the rivalry Arkansas has already built up with Missouri and Pittman just created his ideal yearly schedule.

“It was fun playing Texas last year,” Pittman said. “Obviously, it was one year. We had a nice game against them, have a lot of respect for Coach Sark and the Longhorns. Oklahoma would be another rival that would be pretty cool. To be honest with you, we could play Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri — that would be really neat.

“I’m not a schedule maker, I’m just a football coach but to answer your question, that would be a really cool deal going up into the state of Oklahoma.”

More on Arkansas rivalries vs. Oklahoma, Texas

Pittman made a huge deal out of rivalry games this past year with Arkansas, making it a goal to win all three trophy games for the first time in program history. He accomplished the feat, defeating LSU, Missouri, and Texas A&M — with two coming in the final three weeks of the regular season.

If you add Texas and even Oklahoma into the mix, the intensity of these rivalries is only going to become more prevalent. Fayetteville was hopping with the Longhorns in town and that was before even getting a dominant victory. The Sooners have not traveled to Arkansas since 1919 but the Razorback fans would certainly get up for the matchup.

With also naming Missouri as a third permanent rival, Pittman is clearly in favor of playing nine SEC games, with six rotating opponents. Commissioner Greg Sankey has not officially decided on which scheduling method he will deploy but Pittman has unofficially casted his vote.

Sam Pittman sends message to Oklahoma, Texas before joining SEC

Pittman was asked what his message would be to both Oklahoma and Texas before the two programs joined the SEC. He said Arkansas is excited to have them in the conference and was honest when he said being in recruiting battles with the programs is important.

On the field, he warned them by laying out how quick the SEC can be on a weekly basis. While there might be elements of that in the Big 12, it’s a weekly occurrence in the southeast.

“We love you Texas and Oklahoma,” Pittman said. “Can’t wait for you to come over. We got a great place. I don’t know what to tell them. I mean, OU when I was a kid. Rooting for the Sooners when I was a young kid before I moved out to eastern Oklahoma where I became a Razorback fan. Storied football program and we’re having recruiting battles with them right now. Thank the Lord. Because before, we couldn’t get into the door. We are having recruiting battles with Texas.

“I’m not telling you we’re whipping them or anything like that. I’m telling you we’re in the conversation. You can have two storied programs in there but I would tell them what they already know. It’s a hell of a league and it’s about big people and fast people. Not any different probably than the Big 12 but consistently each week, you better have some depth. Those guys are great coaches over there at Texas, Oklahoma. They know that.”