I went to the One Arkansas Rally last night in Memphis and during the Q and A, Hunter Yurechek was asked about the new football schedule format. He stated that the ADs would meet soon and decide between two options (with the Presidents giving final approval):
Option 1: an 8 conference game schedule with Missouri as the permanent opponent. The other seven conference games would be played in two year segments, home and home. Then the next two years the other conference teams would play a home and home schedule. Every SEC team would play in Fayetteville every 4 years.
Option 2: Arkansas would have a 9 game conference schedule with Texas, Ole Miss, and Missouri as the permanent opponents.
Hunter said he preferred the 8 game format because that was a better fit for Arkansas. He joked and he predicted we would win 11 games next season and Coach Pittman gave a great groan for effect.
I like Hunters thoughts. I want to see all the teams come to Fayetteville as a fan and if I was an athlete I would want the same and the chance to travel and play at the venues that are excluded now.
Will be interesting to see how the other league members vote including the two newbies.
I am only speculating but I’d think it’s something akin to one less SEC game and a better chance for us to be Bowl eligible year after year. I know that’s not what our fans want to hear from a pride standpoint, but an AD has to walk the line between that feeling and being practical.
In a follow-up question to that point, he said that the SEC is tough enough as it is without adding a ninth game. The ability to schedule 4 nonconference games is important for Arkansas football.
I can see pros & cons for both 8 & 9 game schedules. I’m happy with those 3 as perms under the 9 game format. Unlike others, I’m happy with MU as a perm under the 8 game format. Thing about 8 games is that of the 4 non-conf games one almost must be an SEC caliber opponent. (The last thing I want is to make ASU a regular opponent. They’re not good, but we get no credit for a win, but would still face enormous pressure in that game.)
To me, the opponents he listed for either choice is about as good as we could ask for. No one gets excited about playing Mizzou, but that SHOULD be a good game for us. Hasn’t been so far but running away from playing them is not the answer. Beating them regularly is. If we can’t get there against Mizzou, what chance do we have of getting there against anyone else except maybe Vanderbilt? We historically play Texas well so having them plus Ole Miss plus Mizzou in the nine game format should be our best option. Expecting to get Texass and A&M and LSU every year is insanity. We need us some winnable every year games and those are about the best we could hope for in the SEC.
You know, Jeff…I’ve done a little reflecting on this.
My old-school self…who was raised on Granny’s love and a healthy hate for the Longhorns…would really, really like to play them every year I have left on this orb.
But I get that - while there are many like me in that regard - there are also about 1/2 of our current fans who are not obsessed with BeVo-hate. They don’t like Texas, and know why we dislike them even more…but it isn’t quite the same for them. My stance has been that if you give those younger fans a few years of playing the Horns every season (and being exposed to a regular dose of their arrogance), that will change. And that’s probably true.
However, perhaps - in the long run - it is “healthier” for our program and fan base to relegate Texas to “just another hated SEC team”. We’d still play them every other year, and once every 4 in Fayetteville. I believe, in the 60’s and 70’s in particular, that we pointed so heavily toward the Texas game that we were too worked up and frequently didn’t play as well as we should have.
In point of fact, Texas IS just “another SEC team” at this point in their program. Potentially, a top tier one. But usually (over the last 20 years or so), no better than 1/2 the League.
So, maybe it IS better to diffuse the Horn-hate just a bit. Heck, even in years where we wouldn’t have Texas on the schedule (under the 8 game model), we’d still be playing several from this list: LSU, Alabama, OU, Florida, Tennessee, Ole Miss, A&M, Georgia. That’s a pretty stout and interesting dance card, BeVo or not.
I don’t figure it will take long for the young’uns to catch on. Especially those who come to UA from the DFW area and know full well about Fallopian arrogance already. But every other year should be adequate to cultivate the proper attitude, which is summarized by the phrase Tuck Fexas.
I’m not certain the old model of bowl games is going to exist once conference realignment is complete. Needing 3 rent-a-wins to help you get to 6 on the season may not be necessary.
I could see a scenario with 4 super conference, where the top # (whether it be 8 m, 12, or 16) get into the College Football Playoff, and the remaining bowl games are filled with teams from those 4 conferences. It may mean that 5-7 against a schedule of mostly Power 4 gets you into that field.
I’m all for 9 conference games. In fact, I say make it 11. Play the other 7 teams in your division of a 16-team conference, then rotate the other 8 on a two-year basis of home-and-home. The 12th game has to be against a member of one of the other 3 conferences. Some could have a permanent rival in that slot if wanted (Florida-FSU for example).
First, amen on the coda. That was a popular tshirt back in the day, wasn’t it?
And, a lot of those students from DFW coming to UA were declined admission to UT. So, they have a burr under their saddle for UT before adding in what UA fandom brings to the table.
Yup. But I completely understand UT being so selective. According to the Texas Education Agency, there were 362,000 students in the 12th grade in Texas in 2022. If even 10% of those enrolled at UT, or TAM for that matter, that would be a freshman class of 36,000. EOE is big, but it’s not big enough to handle 36,000 freshmen. I think their criteria is the top 5 percent of any in-state graduating class, which would still be 18,000 freshmen if all of them went to UT. Of course this makes some people mad because some rural school in South Texas is not as good as a big suburban DFW school, but that also adds some ethnic diversity because the top students (and everyone else) at that South Texas school are likely to be Hispanic.