While most of you have been focused on the turmoil in Fayetteville, college teams in other parts of the state have done quite well this season.
Let’s start in the capital city, where a Texas-based company is being paid $125,000 to conduct a feasibility study about starting a college football program at Arkansas-Little Rock.
Wasted money, if you ask me.
Football fans in that area can already attend college football games that are easily accessible and affordable. The school is the University of Central Arkansas, which is located 30 miles up the road from Little Rock in Conway.
Tired of paying $20 to park and at least $60 for a ticket?
I parked for free and paid $15 at the gate at Estes Stadium nearly a month ago to watch Central Arkansas whip McNeese State. The Bears are 9-1 and ranked No. 3 nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision heading into Saturday’s home game with Abilene Christian.
Former Conway High School star Brandon Cox is a big-time playmaker for UCA, which has 40 in-state players on its roster. A handful of former high school stars from Northwest Arkansas are on the roster, including Luke Hales (Greenwood), D’Erek Fernandez (Fort Smith Southside), Stockton Mallett (Yellville-Summit), Jack Short (Bentonville) and Dylan Smith (Bentonville).
Central Arkansas will make the FCS playoffs again after losing to Eastern Washington in the second round last year to complete a school-record 10-win season.
The NCAA Division II playoffs started Saturday with Ouachita Baptist losing 24-19 in a close game at Ferris State (Mich). Ouachita made its second playoff appearance after winning the Great American Conference championship with a 9-2 record.
“Some of our guys have never flown, and have never been that far north,” Ouachita Baptist coach Todd Knight said prior to Saturday’s playoff game in Michigan.
Former Lincoln High School standout Drew Harris is a top receiver for the Tigers. Harris scored seven touchdowns when Ouachita Baptist ended the regular season with a 49-42 victory over rival Henderson State in the Battle of the Ravine.
He’ll be back next year when Ouachita State makes another run at a 10-win season.
Oh, and don’t forget Harding University, which topped previously-undefeated Indianapolis University 27-24 in a playoff game Saturday to advance to the second round. Harding also has a handful of players from Northwest Arkansas, including Bryce Bray (Rogers), a starting center, and running back Brandon Gates (Rogers Heritage), who has started nine games for the Bisons.
Now, let’s move to the northeast corner of the state, where the Arkansas State Red Wolves are still chasing a conference championship despite a disappointing loss at South Alabama. ASU has won or shared five of the past six Sun Belt Conference championships and the Red Wolves were the last team to defeat Central Florida, which is 10-0 and ranked No. 14 nationally by The Associated Press. That happened last year when the Red Wolves pounded Central Florida 31-13 in the Cure Bowl at Orlando, Fla. Arkansas State fell short at Nebraska this season and the Red Wolves will get another chance at a big-name opponent next fall when they play at Georgia.
So, cheer up and look around. The Razorbacks own the spotlight as the only the only Power 5 program in the state, but there are other teams who deserve recognition as well.
If you’re a fan of football in Arkansas, and not just Arkansas football, it’s been a pretty good year.
Rick Fires can be reached at rfires@ nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARick.