Could Arkansas be Mizzou's eventual SEC rival?

Mizzou head football coach Gary Pinkel will lead his team into a
new conference next season in search of new rivalries.  According
to a tweet from a president in the conference, Pinkel may fine a new
rival closer to home than he originally thought. - Photo courtesy of
Getty Images

Under the current structure of football in the SEC, where the University of Missouri will begin plan in July of 2012, the conference is divided into two separate divisions of seven teams each.  Each school plays the six other teams in their division, and then one cross-divisional rival from the other division.

When Mizzou and Texas A&M decided to join the SEC for next season, the conference placed Mizzou in the SEC East and the Aggies in the SEC West and instantly made the two former Big 12 schools cross-divisional rivals.  But it looks as if that rivalry will only be temporary as reports have emerged that soon Mizzou and Arkansas will be paired together in a new and different version of a border showdown.

As Vahe Gregorian of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out, a tweet from Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin regarding a future rivalry with South Carolina has stirred the pot and caused many to believe that an annual game between the Razorbacks and Tigers is inevitable.

While nothing is official and nothing is being reported by the SEC Conference or the University of Missouri, the speculation alone is intriguing.  The ramifications of such a change have both pros and cons for Mizzou.

A new football rivalry with Arkansas could be positive on many fronts.  The annual game with Mizzou's neighbors to the South could help Tigers fans saddened by the ending of the school's long standing rivalry with Kansas of the Big 12 recover.

An annual match-up with Arkansas could also become one of the better rivalries in the SEC over time, keeping Mizzou relevant in the conference and not lost at the bottom of the pack, which is the worry of many who feel Mizzou will not be able to compete in the SEC in football.

But losing Texas A&M as the cross-divisional rival could also really hurt the Tigers.  The state of Texas has been a breeding ground of top recruits and talent for the Tigers over the past several seasons and you would have to think that head coach Gary Pinkel is very inclined to keep a major presence and high profile in Texas.

Nonetheless, the sound of a new rivalry developing with Arkansas should be music to the ears of Mizzou traditionalists who yearn for a regional rival.

Arkansas and Mizzou will develop a heated rivalry.  It is almost a complete certainty.

Lets just hope that it does not the hurt the Tigers recruiting pipelines in Texas.