Arkansas AD Hunter Yuracheck 'excited' for Texas to join SEC

Head coach Sam Pittman saw his Arkansas program take a major step forward, winning nine games and getting wins in some important rivalry matchups. The first of the bunch was against the Texas Longhorns, defeating their old Southwest Conference foe, causing a party in Fayetteville, both on the field and throughout the city.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yuracheck was reminiscing on the win over Texas during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. He said the night as a whole was a “memorable” one before talking about how excited both he and Razorback fans are for the Longhorns to possibly be on the schedule on a yearly basis.

“Most Arkansas fans still think Texas is their biggest rival and are excited to have them joining the Southeastern Conference,” Yuracheck said.

The Arkansas and Texas rivalry dates all the way back to 1903 when the two programs played in Austin. After joining the Southwest Conference, it became a yearly matchup beginning in 1928 and one of the more important ones on both’s schedules. As it has in modern college football, conference realignment ruined the rivalry when the Razorbacks left in favor of the SEC.

Since the final SWC game in 1991, the two programs have only met on the gridiron six times. Two have been in a bowl game, while their respective cities split the other four. Arkansas has won a total of four games, while Texas has a win in both Austin and Fayetteville.

There is no definitive way to how the SEC will schedule all of their 16 teams once Texas and Oklahoma join the conference. However, there’s a solid chance the rivalry against Arkansas comes back on a full-time basis. From a geography perspective, it makes the most sense. But it’s an easy way to get excitement into the realignment.

Arkansas AD Hunter Yuracheck on potential SEC playoff

SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, FL, is underway and one of the hottest topics will be the possibility of the conference putting on their own playoff. Something that would have seismic effects on how college football looks on an early basis, not everybody inside of the conference seems on board with the idea.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yuracheck made an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show when he was asked about the playoff idea. He claimed he was not in favor of it due to it not being what’s best for college football in general. Yuracheck made sure to not call out SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, saying he’s still doing what he is supposed to for the conference.

“That’s being the leader in this industry,” Yuracheck said. “What does that course look like and is that what is best for college athletics in general? I don’t think it is best for college athletics in general for the SEC to go out and do their own thing but Commissioner Sankey has great foresight. He’s making sure that he puts everything that’s in front of us a possibility in the future for us to at least have a discussion.”