Razorbacks-Tide
by January 26, 1998 12:00 am 58 views
can’t find a date
A Fayetteville motel operator, knowing the University of Arkansas’ 1998 football schedule showed the University of Alabama game on Sept. 26, was curious about Alabama residents requesting reservations for the weekend of Sept. 19-20. Checking with the athletic departments of both schools, she learned no one knows what day the Razorbacks and Crimson Tide will play.
Arkansas sports information director Rick Schaeffer confirms, “There is definitely a conflict. We’re working on it. There are several options we’re exploring, none that we can reveal at this point. We might move one game, maybe two or more.”
How did two major universities foul up a simple thing like scheduling? The problem stems from the Southeastern Conference rearranging league schedules two years ago. The SEC put the Hogs-Tide game on Sept. 26, but Alabama already had contracted with East Carolina University for that date and apparently left Arkansas where the game was originally set, on the third Saturday in September.
To further complicate matters, the Alabama school administration has a policy against breaking contracts, so moving the East Carolina game on Sept. 26 is probably impossible, Schaeffer says. The SEC is trying to help the teams work out the snafu.
The most logical change would be for Arkansas to move its Alabama game to Oct. 11, where it is schedule to play at the University of Memphis, then put the Memphis game on Sept. 26, a date Memphis currently has open.
Arkansas’ Sept. 19 date with SMU in Little Rock probably can’t be moved, because SMU has no open date and plays on 12 consecutive Saturdays. Schaeffer says the Hogs wouldn’t want to move the season opener Sept. 5 with the University of Southwestern Louisiana to open with the Tide instead. Alabama already plays on Sept. 12, an open date for Arkansas.
Hotel and motel operators in Fayetteville most likely can scratch Sept. 26-27 as a home football weekend. There will be a game with Alabama, however, adding an estimated $3 million-$5 million to the local economy.