re: Why Arkansas wanted a coach with Big10 connection?

I think the push for Miles had nothing to do with his Big 10 connection. I think it was partially due to Jerry Jones thinking his money could buy anything, especially with his alleged connection to Miles, and with the Arky administration needing to show the fans that they were willing to go after a big gun before settling for someone with a little less juice.

However....it is true that the biggest obstacles to anyone rising up in the West are Saban and Miles, both of which run a game built on power running and defense, which were indeed traditional attributes of B10 football. it could be that the Arky folks figured that the only way to win the West would be to beat Bama and LSU at that game. Of course, one could certainly argue whether that's the right strategy for the piggies.