LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said Monday he would like for the Southwest Classic football game between Arkansas and Texas A&M to remain at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
But Long, speaking at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, said the difficulties of scheduling a 13-team conference, with Texas A&M joining the SEC in 2012, might make it impossible to keep the game in the Dallas area.
Touted when it began in 2009 as the rekindling of a bygone Southwest Conference rivalry, it will again become a conference game next season.
Long told those gathered at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Little Rock that because of recruiting benefits and increased exposure in Texas, he would prefer the game stays in the Dallas area, but it might be lost as SEC leaders try to figure out how to make an SEC schedule with 13 schools as fair as possible.
“Texas A&M initially said they were very much in favor of it, as I have, but since that time, there’s been a step back from that position,” Long said. “Basically waiting to see what that SEC schedule is going to look like before Texas A&M wants to make that decision.
“I’m kind of the same way now, to take a step back and see what that’s going to do to us. ... It’s up in the air.”
Long said he and Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne haven’t spoke “other than very briefly,” about possibly moving the game out of Arlington.
The league’s athletic directors met two weeks ago in Birmingham, Ala., to discuss scheduling with Texas A&M set to join the league next summer. Long said most were aware before that meeting a 13-school league will pose logistical headaches, and that’s why Long added that “it’s imperative that we get to 14 [schools].”
“From an athletic directors standpoint, trying to schedule a 13-team conference is very difficult,” he said. “... I really do hope we can get a 14th by 2012. Because looking at the initial scheduling projections, it’s not a pretty sight. There will be a lot of inequity, depending on your fan base, depending on your point of view.”
This year’s Arkansas-Texas A&M game — a 42-38 Arkansas victory Oct. 1 — was a home game for Arkansas.
If the SEC stays at eight conference games, and Arkansas continues to play one SEC game in Little Rock and Texas A&M in Dallas, it would leave the Razorbacks with just two SEC games in Fayetteville in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
“Every institution is going to look at it from their perspective. Who we’re not playing, who our biggest competitors are playing and not playing. All of that enters into it,” Long said. “It’s going to be very difficult for somebody to not come out the other side and feel like they were hurt by the schedule or they were helped the schedule.”
Long touched on several other happenings regarding Arkansas and the landscape of college athletics, including:
On anticipation for Mike Anderson’s first season as Arkansas basketball coach, Long said: “It’s exciting for me to listen to Mike Anderson talk about our team, talk about our future. He gets me excited.”
The biggest laugh of the day came a few minutes later when Long, talking about the benefits of the SEC expanding into Texas, slipped and mentioned former Coach John Pelphrey rather than Anderson.
“Many people have expressed concern: Does it help Arkansas adding Texas [A&M]? You know from our vantage point, talking with Coach Pelphrey,” ... Long paused while waiting through laughter before pointing at television cameras to jokingly say: “You’ll edit that out.” Long later wished Pelphrey luck in his new position as a Florida assistant.
Long didn’t mention specific schools when talking about the SEC’s potential 14th member, and when asked afterward, he said he wasn’t sure how many schools are in conversations with the league.
“Those inquiries are made at the conference level, so I couldn’t give you a definitive number,” he said. “You can be sure that there’s a number of them. I think I’ve got to stop short of anything other than that.”
He also said his personal preference for a 14th school would be one that is not located in a state that already has an SEC member, but borders a state that does.
He also mentioned there could be three different rounds of announcements by the NCAA in the coming months regarding a change in recruiting rules, eligibility standards and the possible return of a form of partial qualifiers. He said announcements could come at the end of this month and sometime in January and April.
“That has a significant recruiting impact,” Long said. “Coaches will have to make conscious decisions about grades, student-athletes, whether they want to bring somebody in and have them sit out. It is going to be something that will really change the culture a little bit.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/18/2011