Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Alfred Davis’ Mohawk ranked second among attention-grabbing parts of his look during a session with reporters earlier this week.

Listening to Davis answer questions about the way Arkansas has struggled this season it was easy to be drawn to his right hand. There, on his ring finger, Davis was wearing a massive, bejeweled commemoration of the Cotton Bowl victory that ended last season.

Arkansas, in case you’ve forgotten during one of the worst starts in school history, isn’t that far removed from happier times. It was just nine months ago the Razorbacks clinched an 11-win season and finished ranked No. 5.

Asked about how far away last season must seem, Davis didn’t want to compare the two teams. What’s in the past is in the past, he said as the light from TV cameras glistened in his ring.

“It’s a new year, it’s the past,” Davis said. “I mean, I’m proud of [2011], but I can’t compare this team to that team. All I have to do is play in the now right now.”

Now is a rough place to be living.

Davis’ jewelry was another reminder of how things have changed since January. It’s been a remarkable collapse for the Razorbacks, who were Cotton Bowl winners last year and are just two seasons removed from a Sugar Bowl appearance.

Not that they’re alone in their free fall.

Upcoming opponent Auburn enters Saturday’s 11 a.m. game at Jordan-Hare Stadium facing its share of struggles. This looks nothing like a program just a couple years removed from a BCS title. So far the Tigers (1-3, 0-1) have struggled and they need a win against the Razorbacks (1-4, 0-2) to avoid their worst start since 1998.

When Auburn and Arkansas last met on The Plains, it was a showdown between Heisman Trophy hopefuls Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett. Both teams had hopes of being in the SEC West title race in 2010. There was optimism the two could regularly challenge LSU and Alabama for supremacy.

If you ever doubted how quickly things could change in college football, look no further than this game. These two programs have gone from positions of power to powerless in no time.

We can dub this the “Remember When? Bowl.”