Fansided

Bret Bielema officially on 2017 hot seat after epic Belk Bowl collapse

By Jack Crosby

Dec 29, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema questions the ref on a call during the fourth quarter of the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. The Hokies win the Belk Bowl 35-24 over the Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema questions the ref on a call during the fourth quarter of the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. The Hokies win the Belk Bowl 35-24 over the Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bret Bielema is now on one of the hottest seats entering the 2017 college football season following a collapse for the ages

Bret Bielema was well on his way to a third-consecutive bowl win on Thursday night as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. He and his squad were throttling Virginia Tech 24-0 at halftime, quarterback Austin Allen was playing some of the best football he’s played all season and the defense shutout a pretty good Justin Fuente Hokies offense.

Yep, life was good for Bielema as he was cruising to that aforementioned third-straight bowl win as the head man in Fayetteville.

Then, the second half happened.

It was Murphy’s Law for Bielema and the Razorbacks in the second half of the Belk Bowl on Thursday night, as everything that could possibly go wrong, did. Allen was now turning the ball over seemingly at will, and that stout Razorbacks defense from the first half now had zero answers for Jerod Evans and the Virginia Tech offensive unit. The country watched in amazement as the Hokies rattled off 35 unanswered points to give Fuente one epic bowl win to remember in his first season in Blacksburg.

So now, full attention will be paid to Bielema entering the 2017 season. More specifically, the attention will be whether or not he will be able to coach the Razorbacks for a full fifth season, as he has now firmly supplanted himself on one of the hottest seats entering the campaign in 2017.

Sure, Bielema did win two bowl games for Arkansas the past two seasons after suffering through a 3-9 campaign in 2013 after bolting from Wisconsin. But the entire body of work through the four seasons in Fayetteville leaves a lot to be desired, thus requiring him to put together some very impressive performances in 2017 — or else he will be on the job market sooner rather than later.

Throughout Bielema’s tenure as the head coach of Arkansas, one statistic that stands out above all the rest is his 10-22 record in the SEC. You can rack up all the Texas and Liberty Bowl wins that you want, but at the end of the day, if you’re not getting it done in the conference down south with success, then you’re not long for your position. That 10-22 record says all you need to know about that.

Things won’t be easy in the SEC West for Bielema and Arkansas either. Following what should be a tough out-of-conference game at home against TCU in September, they have three brutal SEC West games on the road: Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ole Miss in Oxford and LSU in Baton Rouge. So yeah, not the most desirable slate for someone fighting for their job.

Then, let’s not forget the neutral site battle in Arlington with Texas A&M, as well as home contests with Auburn and Mississippi State.

Many eyes will be on the job status of Bret Bielema in 2017, and all this complete breakdown on Thursday night against Virginia Tech did was douse that entire hot seat already set up in gasoline.

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