LITTLE ROCK — Critiquing a statement from the Arkansas athletics director, a cynic might say Hunter Yurachek performed a public service for the University of Arkansas system.
Specifically, educating the public, if you will, about which Division I schools are in the UA system. Other than the UA-Fayetteville, there are two — Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Arkansas-Fort Smith and Arkansas-Monticello compete as Division II programs.
Neither Arkansas State University nor the University of Central Arkansas is part of the system. Therefore, they are not included in the plans for the Razorbacks to compete against in-state schools in various sports.
On the job less than a year, Yurachek was specific in a statement that accompanied the recent announcement Arkansas would play UALR and UAPB in baseball in April.
“As the flagship institution within our state, this is an opportunity for us to enhance interest in our non-conference schedules while supporting other schools within the University of Arkansas system,” said Yurachek, who had the backing and encouragement of the UA Board of Trustees when he initiated contact with the other schools.
The announcement of the baseball games fanned the flames of a long-running discussion involving the Razorbacks playing ASU or UCA in football. Anticipating such speculation, Yurachek said, “ … there are no plans to expand in-state scheduling beyond those schools with the University of Arkansas system.”
Clear. Concise. Definitive.
Moving on to viable possibilities.
Football gets the most attention and UA-Pine Bluff could be the Football Championship Subdivision team on the Arkansas schedule as soon as 2022. Portland State fills that slot in 2019 and Missouri State is scheduled for 2021.
Each of the SEC’s 14 teams plays an FCS opponent this year, including five against an in-state school — Auburn-Alabama State, Kentucky-Murray State, LSU-Southeastern Louisiana, Tennessee-East Tennessee State and Vanderbilt-Tennessee State.
The $525,000 Arkansas paid Eastern Illinois University for last Saturday’s season opener is a hefty sum in UAPB’s world. For instance, the school’s budget for fiscal 2019 estimates $5.7 million in revenue from athletics, including $950,000 from football receipts.
Baseball and basketball games between Fayetteville and Little Rock would be more competitive than a football game against UAPB.
Just last season, Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas-Little Rock baseball split a two-game series with Oklahoma State and played Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Oral Roberts. The Sun Belt landed two teams in the NCAA Tournament — Coastal Carolina, the College World Series champion in 2016 shortly before joining the Sun Belt, and Troy.
That said, an Arkansas-Little Rock victory over the Razorbacks would not be a disaster. After all, the Arkansas team that finished second in Omaha lost to Cal Poly and San Diego in February.
Once conference play begins and consumes the weekends for more than two months, teams are often on the lookout for a midweek, non-conference game with little or no travel, and Arkansas just happened to have the same Tuesdays open as the Trojans and Golden Lions.
The visitors will each get a few-thousand dollars and it makes sense that the Fayetteville-Little Rock contest will be played at Dickey Stephens in North Little Rock at some point.
The UA system schools participate in several other mutual sports, but the most intriguing potential matchup is UALR vs. UA in women’s basketball. In that instance, UALR might well be favored.
Under Joe Foley, UALR has made the NCAA Tournament five times since 2010, including last year. This year, SEC powerhouse Mississippi State — the NCAA runner-up the last two years — will play in Little Rock, as will Texas A&M under former Arkansas coach Gary Blair and the Big 12’s Kansas State.
With UALR’s program well established and Arkansas’s believed to be on the rise under Mike Neighbors, the quality of basketball could create a legitimate rivalry and demand for games at both sites.
Meanwhile, the hiring of former Razorback Darrell Walker as UALR coach adds to the appeal of Fayetteville vs. Little Rock on the men’s side.