The Arkansas Razorbacks are starting the 2020s in grand style with their first game against a national power at one of college football's iconic locations.
Arkansas and Notre Dame begin a home-and-home series Sept. 12, 2020, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish will make the return trip to Fayetteville and Reynolds Razorback Stadium Oct. 4, 2025.
"It's remarkable to think our historic programs have never met, but we are excited that this will change in the near future as we add ... Notre Dame to our football schedules in 2020 and 2025," University of Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a release Thursday. "This series will benefit our football program, our university and the Southeastern Conference, but more importantly it is an opportunity for our football student-athletes to compete against one of college football's storied programs while providing a premier matchup for our fans. This series will provide a once-in-a-lifetime road trip and another memorable football Saturday (in Fayetteville)."
Long added, "We had been searching for a marquee home-and-home opponent that would begin with an away game matchup to balance our home game with Texas in 2021. When a shared open date during the 2020 season became available, it was an opportunity that fit well into our future scheduling and we didn't want to pass up. We worked quickly to schedule the initial game of the series at Notre Dame in 2020 and then worked to identify the first opportunity for our home game. Based on previously arranged scheduling commitments, the first opportunity for the series game in Arkansas was during the 2025 season."
According to a UA release, Arkansas will receive an allotment of 7,500 seats for its game in South Bend and Notre Dame will receive the same in 2025.
Bret Bielema, entering his fifth season as Razorback football head coach, said scheduling Notre Dame had been a goal of his since coming to Arkansas.
"I'm excited for our program, but I'm also excited for our fans to experience a game at Notre Dame and then come back and show what an amazing home atmosphere we have," Bielema said.
Arkansas will be just the second Southeastern Conference West program and fifth member to play at Notre Dame since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1992. Georgia visits South Bend this fall, following Vanderbilt in 1995, LSU in 1998 and Tennessee in 2001 and 2005.
Lou Holtz coached Arkansas to a 60-21-2 record in seven seasons with his 1977 squad finishing No. 3 in the nation after an Orange Bowl upset of Oklahoma and the 1979 Razorbacks sharing the Southwest Conference title. Holtz later coached Notre Dame for 11 seasons, leading the school to its last national football championship in 1998. He is the only coach in NCAA history to lead six different programs to a bowl game and the only coach to guide four programs to a top-20 finish.
SEC Media Days: Arkansas will be the first school to go public at SEC Football Media Days next week, the league office announced Wednesday.
Coach Bret Bielema will be accompanied by his three senior captains -- quarterback Austin Allen, center Frank Ragnow and defensive back Kevin Richardson -- on Monday in Hoover, Ala. Bielema will take the podium immediately following SEC commissioner Greg Sankey's press conference at 11:35 a.m.
The SEC Network and ESPN will air SEC Media Days nationally.
Arkansas starts the 2017 season Thursday, Aug. 31 with a 7 p.m. SEC Network game against Florida A&M at Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium. The Razorbacks' Fayetteville opener is Saturday, Sept. 9 against TCU, a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS, with the SEC opener against Texas A&M (the Southwest Classic) Sept. 16 at AT&T Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas' other Fayetteville games are against New Mexico State Sept. 30, Auburn Oct. 21, Coastal Carolina Nov. 4 (homecoming), Mississippi State Nov. 18 and Missouri Nov. 24. The Missouri game, on Thanksgiving Friday, is set for 1:30 p.m. on CBS.
The Razorbacks go on the road Oct. 7 against South Carolina, Oct. 14 against Alabama, Oct. 28 against Ole Miss and Nov. 11 at LSU.
Sports on 07/07/2017