for all yall college football fans out there... i dont see it overshadowing the tx vs ou game but should be a good matchup none the less. after this agreement, i wonder if the tx vs ou game will be moved to the new cowgirl stadium also. it would be nice to see ark join the big 12 w/ baylor or iowa st getting the boot. but dont think theyd leave the sec... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5606624.html March 10, 2008, 11:25AM A&M, Arkansas to resume football rivalry in 2009 in Arlington By TERRANCE HARRIS Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle RANKINGS AP | USA Today Top 25 | BCS Texas A&M and Arkansas officially announced Monday the renewal of their old Southwest Conference rivalry beginning in Oct. 2009 at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. It was first reported in December that the two schools were in discussions and an agreement was imminent. The deal, in cooperation with the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is a 10-year agreement that will have the Razorbacks as the home team in odd years and the Aggies as the home team in even years. The Aggies had been looking to play a game in the Dallas area that would rival the annual Texas-Oklahoma clash. There had been talk of moving the annual game with Big 12 rival Texas Tech to Dallas, but both sides were concerned about the loss of revenue for a home conference game. “I am very excited about this agreement between our two schools and Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys organization,” A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said in released statement. “This provides a marquee non-conference game with national television exposure. The stadium is going to be one of the finest in the country and that should excite our players and fans. This game should generate additional revenue which will help our overall department and will give us more of a presence in the Metroplex.” Arkansas and A&M haven’t played since the Razorbacks left the SWC for the SEC following the 1991 season. Arkansas holds a 38-24-3 all-time series record. “I was on R.C. Slocum’s staff in the late 80’s and early 90’s and we had some great games against Arkansas in the historic Southwest Conference days,” newly hired A&M coach Mike Sherman said in a released statement. “I anticipate that the inaugural game scheduled for 2009 will be the first step in establishing a very competitive border rivalry which will become a fan favorite as two tradition-rich universities go head-to-head early in the season. It will be a great barometer for our team before we embark into Big 12 action.”
The guaranteed payout for this game is huge. I think it is $5M per year per team. That is ridiculous! I think this really helps out Arkansas in the long run. Once again, the recruiting pipleline to Texas will be re-opened. This game, along with the addition of a name coach will tremendously help Arkansas out in recruiting.
Loved the ATM - LSU games in the late 80's (iirc). That's a rivalry that could reach UT/OU levels (if/when ATM regains some prominence). Play it at Reliant every year. That would be ridiculous.
Finally we add a healthy dose of SEC opposition to our schedule. Excluding bowl games I cannot remember the last time TAMU scheduled a SEC game.
Kind of like Texas bailed out on Arkansas in basketball for this season? FWIW, both games will be played in the future, just not in '09. The football game this season in Austin is going to be played.
We scheduled a home & away series with Arky that was suppose to be played this season but Arky pulled out a couple weeks back.
Arkansas did NOT pull out of the series. Arkansas will play UT in Austin during the 2008 season. Arkansas will play UT at home at a later date instead of playing during 2009.
