For the third time in the past five years, the Illinois Fighting Illini are playing in a bowl game under head coach Bret Bielema. Tuesday brings a date with the Tennessee Volunteers in the Music City Bowl for a fun matchup between top Big Ten and SEC programs. Playing this time of year is nothing new for Bielema, no matter where he has been stationed.
Wisconsin saw plenty of bowl games under Bielema. Arkansas did as well, except in Bielema’s final year when the Razorbacks finished 4-8 during the regular season. He was quickly moved on after three consecutive postseason appearances. Nearly a decade later, the firing still sits with Bielema.
“I just keep going back to, it’s three in four years,” Bielema said. “However it’s going to play out. But those two years that we missed, both five-win seasons. I’m like ‘Damn, if we would have gotten one more win’ in those two, to be five-for-five. When I was at Wisconsin, I never missed a bowl game… When I was at Arkansas, we went to three straight but I missed that last year and that wasn’t good enough for them. So, I got shooed out the door.”
Getting to six wins has been a struggle for Arkansas ever since. Chad Morris did not win an SEC game in Fayetteville, let alone gain bowl eligibility. The next five years were overseen by Sam Pittman, making it to the Liberty Bowl twice and the Outback Bowl on another occasion. Funny enough, Arkansas won all three of those. Even so, Pittman was let go mid-season due to a poor start this past fall. Bobby Petrino took over as the interim head coach and ran into a 0-7 record.
In total, seven seasons for Arkansas since firing Bielema — only three bowl games. Not exactly the direction anybody associated with Arkansas wanted to go.
However, you have to imagine Bielema is happy with Illinois. The Fighting Illini continue to find a little more success than just reaching bowl games. It’s now back-to-back seasons of at least eight wins, something the program has not done since 1989 and 1990.
Last year saw Illinois take down South Carolina, a game where Bielema got quite animated. Beating Tennessee would just be another box checked against a quality SEC opponent. A fun one should take place from Nashville but before getting there, a shot had to be directed at Arkansas.