Consider the options: You go to LSU and win and all but guarantee yourself a berth in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. New Year's Eve 1999 in the Big D. Happy fans. Party time. But what if you lose?

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Well, a probable bid to the Independence Bowl. New Year's Eve? Ha. Kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Central in Shreveport, La. What a way to spend the last night of the century.

So the Razorbacks went out and got lit up by LSU, 35-10.

Don't forget to pack the party favors on the bus to Shreveport.

Except that somewhere along the way, Houston Nutt and his staff and players and everybody else associated with Arkansas football did something good, and were repaid. (Actually, it probably has more to do with some favors that athletic director Frank Broyles was able to call upon along the way).

And those good deeds the Hogs have done over the years were repaid the day after their LSU debacle -- repaid by an incredibly fortuitous sequence of breaks in the Georgia-Georgia Tech game.

• First, Georgia coach Jim Donnan wasn't about to be satisfied with a PAT of a field goal from the 2-yard line in the last 12 seconds of the game, trailing by a point. He wanted a touchdown. That in itself was a break for Arkansas, as well as Georgia Tech.
• Then, fullback Reggie Cobb was tackled at the one yard line. His knees hit the ground. Then the ground caused a fumble. But in another great break for the Hogs, officials ruled the play a fumble, Georgia Tech got it, and the game went into overtime.
• Then Georgia Tech picked off a Georgia pass in the first overtime, which meant all Tech needed was any score to win.
• And then George O'Leary had the good sense to have his team kick a field goal on third down of their overtime chance.
• So, even when Georgia blocked Tech kicker Luke Manget's field goal attempt, the recovery by Yellow Jacket holder George Godsey was huge. It gave Tech a fourth-down play, and there was Manget, coming back on the field, this time to calmly kick through the game-winner.

That left a gulf between teams at the top of the SEC standings -- Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State had at least nine wins, and nobody else had as many as eight.

That allowed the Cotton Bowl to revisit the selection process from the start. And considering geography, the mere fact that Arkansas had not been to the Cotton Bowl since 1990, and then the exciting prospect of a Texas-Arkansas game 30 years after their 1969 Game of the Century … well, even with the loss to LSU, the Razorbacks were looking better all the time.

The final bonus for Arkansas' hopes to go to Dallas instead of Shreveport came from Manhattan, Kan. That's where Kansas State officials opted to go to the Holiday Bowl rather than wait around for the Big 12 championship game and get invited to the Cotton Bowl only if Nebraska lost.

That meant the loser of the Big 12 championship game was definitely destined for Dallas … and when Texas was beaten by Nebraska, it sealed the prospects for Arkansas: The Hogs and Horns is just too much fun to pass up.

Yes, Arkansas did more than its share of things in 1999 to deserve a nice bowl trip. It was a rebuilding season that had become a solid season. But after the breaks that the Razorbacks experienced in the undoing of the 1998 dream season (the Tennessee game and Mississippi State game come to mind), perhaps this is just the bounces of the ball evening out.

Still, this has been an up-and-down year for Arkansas, with the ups coming at home (six wins), and the downs coming on the road (five losses). The Hogs opened with a win at SMU and then beat Louisiana-Monroe. But road trips to Alabama and Kentucky left them 2-2. Home victories over Middle Tennessee, hapless South Carolina and Auburn gave the Razorbacks high hopes.

Then they had to go to Ole Miss, where they lost.

But just when you would have figured you could bury Arkansas, it responded by shocking Tennessee and Mississippi State in back-to-back weeks.

Which made the LSU debacle all the more disheartening. … and the invitation to the Cotton Bowl all the more surprising and exciting.

The Personnel File

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cedric Cobbs, Fr., TB. Cobbs was a great surprise, leading the team in rushing with 668 yards on 116 carries. He ran for three touchdowns, caught a pass for another and returned a kick for another, averaging 27.3 yards per return. He is the kind of player who can be a star in the SEC.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kenoy Kennedy, SR., FS. Kennedy led the team in tackles with 95, 55 unassisted. He had three interceptions, broke up 10 passes, recovered two fumbles -- returning one for a TD -- and forced three.

COACH UPDATE: Houston Nutt (16-7 in two years at Arkansas, 52-29 in seven years overall). "Nuttin' but Fun" still applies for the coach who turned things around in Fayetteville and brought in more excitement surrounding Arkansas football than the school had seen in a long time. He was hired two years ago and this year's seniors had participated in just eight victories the previous two seasons. What's more, Arkansas is going to a bowl for the second straight season for the first time in 10 years.

STRENGTHS: Seniors, seniors, seniors. This is one of the more experienced teams in the league and will be a big plus as Arkansas tries to turn things around as it prepares for a bowl. Clint Stoerner is a proven big-time player at quarterback, Anthony Lucas is always dangerous at wide receiver, and combination of Chrys Chukwuma and Cobbs in the backfield is a nice luxury. The defense, led by Kennedy, is outstanding when it's on.

CONCERNS: That the defense could go to sleep and play as it did at LSU. If so, Arkansas will be 7-5 after the bowl game.

Noteworthy

YOUTH WILL RULE: Wide receiver Boo Williams is the only junior who has played much on offense. End Randy Garner, linebacker Quenton Caver and rover Jeremiah Harper are the only juniors who have contributed substantially on defense. Added to next year's team will be wide receiver Michael Snowden, who is redshirting, and linebacker J.J. Jones, who should get a medical hardship.

BIG BUCKS: The expansion and renovation of the school's football stadium has received an unprecedented boost with a $20 million gift from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

THE WAITING GAME: Arkansas had two weeks from the time the LSU game ended until it found out where it would be bowling.

"I just hate the way that the regular season ended the way that it did," Nutt said. "To come off two great weeks and thinking that we are going to finish out the right way, was very discouraging. Still, I'm really thankful for our seniors on this football team. Their first two years, they only won eight games in the SEC and this past two years they won 16. It is the most since 1989, so I think that we are still learning to win especially in the SEC."