11 a.m. — again

Arkansas’ game against Mississippi State will be the fifth 11 a.m. kickoff for the Razorbacks, following games against Texas A&M, New Mexico State, Ole Miss and LSU.

The morning starts are nothing new for Bret Bielema, who said in his first season as head coach at Wisconsin all the Badgers’ games kicked off at 11 a.m, including a 17-14 victory over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007.

“We went 12-1 and all 13 games were at 11 o’clock,” Bielema said. “Every one of them. So, I was indoctrinated early on.

“In the Big Ten they’re a little bit more prevalent than they are here. When we got here, we went for a stretch there where we didn’t have one for a long time.”

Bielema said the 11 a.m. games are good for recruits because they get to see a full game, then afterward the coaches can spend time with them and their parents.

“Everybody would probably say 2:30 is ideal, but from a logistics and working environment, 11 o’clock is pretty on time,” he said.

“You get to that 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock, 8 o’clock and by the time the coaches get done, everything is out the door and we’re a little bit limited. An 11 o’clock game is very functional for us.”