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Has time come for Arkansas to play Arkansas State?

The time has come for Arkansas and Arkansas State to play each other … and in sports other than just football. Even play it in Little Rock.

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A week or so ago, a booster whose family has been donating and buying tickets for several decades approached me with a message.

It was as simple as it was surprising.

“It’s time for the Hogs to start playing Arkansas State,” he said.

To be honest, I didn’t need any convincing. I’ve been on the record for over 40 years as saying the Razorbacks should be playing the little school in Jonesboro … in ALL sports, not just football.

Frank Broyles had a simple answer that, well, really was just a BS solution to the problem that sounded politically correct and gave everybody an out.

It was Frank’s public belief that it would divide the state. He wanted the fans of the smaller college football teams to also be Razorback fans.

What he failed to grasp about, oh, the mid-1970’s was playing the smaller teams in the state wasn’t going to lose any Hog fans. I attended Central Arkansas in the mid-1970’s and it was easier on Monday mornings to find students that knew the score of the Razorback game than how the Bears did the previous Saturday.

Going to Arkansas games in Fayetteville it was not uncommon to see fellow students in attendance at those games. UCA (like some other college teams) scheduled their games around the Razorback games so fans could listen and follow THAT game before coming to the Bears’ game.

Things haven’t really changed.

Oh, the way they keep up with the Hogs has. The internet has helped that along tremendously.

In reality, less than three percent of the population of the entire state of Arkansas can squeeze into Razorback Stadium. That means 97 percent of the state is following the games on their mobile phone, television, radio or whatever.

Trust me, it’s not usual at a game between two other Arkansas schools for somebody to shout in the press box about the score with the Hogs. I’ve been there and seen it.

Playing other colleges in Arkansas isn’t going to affect the fan base one bit.

The UA has a problem in Little Rock and some new expansion in Fayetteville that may or may not cause some interesting financial situations. Only time will tell on the latter.

But the Little Rock problem could be solved by playing Arkansas State there. I’ll be honest, I’ve bounced back and forth between playing them in Little Rock or Fayetteville, but War Memorial probably makes more sense.

Give ASU 10,000 tickets to the game and no guarantee. That’s it, pure and simple.

Sorry, but splitting the stadium and giving ASU half isn’t fair. Now that would likely be a cheaper solution for the UA than paying some ridiculous guarantee to a Sun Belt team to come to Little Rock for a game.

And if ASU wants to come to Fayetteville every year they get a guarantee and the same number of tickets any other visiting team gets.

It would be a wise move for the state to rotate between UCA and UAPB every year, too. Play that game in Fayetteville. They get a guarantee, the money stays within the state of Arkansas and everybody benefits.

But if the argument is the Hogs will lose fans or support by playing those teams, then that’s simply a BS argument. This doesn’t cost Arkansas in recruiting, but could benefit other in-state teams. If a high school senior isn’t good enough to play for the Hogs at least he could play against them.

Why?

If they do, then there are bigger problems.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole MissL, 63-31
Sat, Nov 16vs TexasL, 20-10
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana Tech3:00 PM
ESPN+/SECN+
Sat, Nov 30@ Missouri2:30 PM
SEC Network
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (25)10-02681
2.Greenwood (2)10-02343
30Conway9-12022
4.Little Rock Parkview9-11714
5.Bentonville7-31625
6.Benton9-11486
7.Fayetteville8-21117
8.Pulaski Academy8-2898
9.Rogers7-3439
10.Joe T. Robinson9-122
Others receiving votes: Valley View 8, Mountain Home 7, Cabot 6, Little Rock Catholic 6, Shiloh Christian 6, Elkins 1, Farmington 1.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (27)10-01351
2.Conway9-11022
3.Bentonville7-3813
4.Fayetteville8-2454
5.Pulaski Academy8-2395
Others receiving votes: Rogers 3.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (27)10-01351
2.Benton9-11082
3.Mountain Home8-2623
4.Shiloh Christian7-3494
5.Little Rock Catholic9-1345
Others receiving votes: Marion 6.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (27)9-11351
2.Joe T. Robinson9-11062
3.Valley View10-0793
4.Farmington9-1484
5.Hot Springs Lakeside8-2205
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 7, Harding Academy 7, Morrilton 3.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (20)10-01261
3.Arkadelphia (5)8-2913
2.Little Rock Mills (1)10-0682
4.Warren8-2554
5.Dardanell (1)9-123
Southside Batesville10-023
Others receiving votes: Malvern 12, Gravette 5, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
1.Bismarck (12)10-01051t
2.Fordyce (10)10-0961t
3.Prescott (1)9-1704
4.Osceola (2)8-1543
5.Booneville (1)9-1395
Others receiving votes: Mansfield (1) 23, Rivercrest 10, Rison 4, Salem 4.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (20)10-01271
2.Conway Christian (7)10-01152
3.Des Arc8-2595
4.East Poinsett Co.7-352
5.Bigelow6-4183
Murfreesboro7-3184
Others receiving votes: Mount Ida 6, Junction City 4, Cross County 3, Poyen 3.
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (27)5-0811
2.Midland9-0532
3.Cedar Ridge8-1253
Others receiving votes: Woodlawn 3.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.