HOOVER — Bobby Petrino didn’t try to play down the expectations surrounding his Arkansas football team.

Neither did Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett.

During the Arkansas session at Southeastern Conference Kickoff 2010 Thursday morning in Hoover, all the talk was about contending in the SEC West and Heisman Trophy possibilities.

Anyone else got an eerie sense of deja vu?

Anyone besides Houston Nutt and Jevan Snead?

Nutt and Snead were in the exact same situation when Ole Miss took center stage at media days a year ago. The Rebels were the media darling — considered a legitimate threat to unseat Alabama as the top team in the SEC West — and their quarterback, Snead, was bombarded with early Heisman hype.

It didn’t take long for those Ole Miss bubbles to burst, either. Less than two months, in fact.

South Carolina upset Ole Miss early in the season, and Snead turned out to be a great disappointment.

Now it’s Arkansas’ turn on the pedestal.

Will the Razorbacks live up the hype? Or is this team just another pretender?

The later seems like the more logical choice, even though it’s not the popular pick.

Yes, Mallett has the makings of a great quarterback — he’s the best the SEC has to offer. And yes, Petrino is a great offensive mind.

But it takes more than a great passing quarterback to contend in the always-brutal SEC.

To win a championship in this league, it takes a complete team.

Which Arkansas is not.

Sure, Arkansas had a great passing attack last season. And who can forget that the Razorbacks had the conference’s best scoring offense.

But yet Arkansas still only managed to finish 8-5 and struggled to beat East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.

How is that possible?

Because of all the gaping holes Arkansas had on defense, the offensive line and in the running game.

Arkansas’ running game finished the season ranked 10th in the SEC, and the Razorbacks were the worst team in the conference on total defense — giving up more than 400 yards per game.

That doesn’t sound like a team that can contend in the SEC, does it?

More like middle of the pack, which is exactly what Arkansas was — even with that strong finish where the Razorbacks won five of their last six.

Expect more of the same from Arkansas this season.

Yeah, Mallett’s big arm will be enough to beat up on the lower-tier teams in the conference, but the Razorbacks are going to need a lot more than that to beat the big boys on the schedule such as Alabama, LSU and Georgia.

Those three teams all have a shot at playing in the SEC title game.

Arkansas does not.

But it doesn’t hurt to dream big.

Just don’t get too caught up in the hype and wager all the hogs on the farm, because Arkansas is just another preseason media darling that’s going to get its bubble popped — just like Ole Miss did a year ago.

Justin Graves can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 257 or by e-mail at jgraves@cullmantimes.com.