FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will host a ranked football team in its return to Reynolds Razorback Stadium next weekend.
Liberty is ranked No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. The Flames (7-1) are scheduled to play the Razorbacks (5-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network.
Unranked last week, Liberty joined the AP rankings after multiple teams fell out of the poll. The Flames received the second-most votes last week by a team that was unranked. They have not played since a 41-14 victory over BYU on Oct. 22.
Liberty is in the AP poll for the first time since it finished the 2020 season ranked 17th. The Flames have qualified for a bowl for the fourth consecutive season under Hugh Freeze, the former coach at Ole Miss and Arkansas State.
It will be the third time Freeze brings a ranked team to Fayetteville. His Ole Miss teams were ranked eighth in 2014 and 12th in 2016 when they lost by scores of 30-0 and 34-30, respectively.
Arkansas received 11 points in the AP poll this week — seventh most among unranked teams. The Razorbacks, who were ranked 10th prior to a loss to Texas A&M in September that began a three-game losing streak, have won consecutive games at BYU and Auburn by scores of 52-35 and 41-27.
The Liberty game will be Arkansas’ first at home since Oct. 1 and will begin a three-game homestand. The Razorbacks will follow with games against 15th-ranked LSU on Nov. 12 and 11th-ranked Ole Miss on Nov. 19.
An unranked Arkansas team will host a ranked team from outside the Power 5 for the first time since November 2008, when the Razorbacks won 30-23 over then-undefeated Tulsa, which was ranked 18th at the time.
AP Top 25 Poll, Oct. 30
1. Georgia (8-0)
T2. Tennessee (8-0)
T2. Ohio State (8-0)
4. Michigan (8-0)
5. Clemson (8-0)
6. Alabama (7-1)
7. TCU (8-0)
8. Oregon (7-1)
9. Southern Cal (7-1)
10. UCLA (7-1)
11. Ole Miss (8-1)
12. Utah (6-2)
13. Kansas State (6-2)
14. Illinois (7-1)
15. LSU (6-2)
16. Penn State (6-2)
17. North Carolina (7-1)
18. Oklahoma State (6-2)
19. Tulane (7-1)
20. Wake Forest (6-2)
21. North Carolina State (6-2)
22. Syracuse (6-2)
23. Liberty (7-1)
24. Oregon State (6-2)
25. Central Florida (6-2)
Receiving Votes: Texas (58), Kentucky (57), Maryland (36), Cincinnati (32), Notre Dame (24), Washington (12), Arkansas (11), Baylor (9), Coastal Carolina (8), Florida State (8), Troy (7), Mississippi State (5), Boise State (4), East Carolina (2), South Carolina (2), Louisville (1), Texas-San Antonio (1)