A bowl game in central Arkansas would need to belong to the entire state, or at least most of it.
All the data to create a bowl game -- including the necessary steps of having a television contract, a major sponsor and an affiliation with two conferences -- have been collected and were submitted Wednesday to the NCAA for consideration.
It should be approved. Of course there are no guarantees, and there are some small hoops to jump through, but the chances are good for central Arkansas playing host to such a game.
Since the NCAA staked claim to its championship with the advent of the College Football Playoffs, it has opened the door for new bowls.
Last year, there were 39. Many of those were played in front of small and unspectacular crowds.
Arkansas does not need that.
This could be a golden opportunity to put a good foot forward on national television each December. To show the nation that this state can work together and have a positive impact.
Chris Peterson, the former UALR athletic director, got the ball rolling. He and Kevin Crass, chairman of the War Memorial Stadium Commission, have worked incredibly hard and quietly to get this done. Peterson is the official chair on the application, and he sent it in Wednesday morning.
Once the application is approved, the heavy lifting begins.
There will be no shortage of folks who want to be on the selection committee. That's the fun job, which means several Saturdays during the season they put on the bowl's official blazer and go to "scout" teams.
Those guys usually get the red carpet treatment, including good seats in the press box.
It will take a lot more than that to make this bowl a success. It is going to take a team effort, and it can happen with the right leadership from several areas and support from even more areas.
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By now, most have tossed their NCAA Tournament bracket into the trash and are wondering how they could have done so badly in the East Regional.
It's simple. Six times the higher-seeded team lost to the lower seed. No. 1 seed Villanova and No. 2 seed Virginia went out in their second games. The Wildcats were pretenders instead of contenders for a second consecutive year.
Going in to Saturday night's regional final, Wisconsin vs. Arizona, your trusty scribe -- who usually finishes in the middle of the pack in office pools -- needed a mild upset to be in position to win not one but two contests.
There were 69 who entered the editorial department office pool and a dozen or so at KABZ-FM, 103.7, The Buzz, as well as the bracket contest among the four contributors on Overtime. The last-place finisher in that one buys lunch, a bet that was paid Tuesday.
As for the other two pools, Arizona went down and so did any shot this reporter had of finishing among the top three.
The pool at the paper had more ups and downs than an overloaded cargo ship in high seas.
Kirk Montgomery picked Alabama-Birmingham over Iowa State and took an early lead, but he quickly fell into the pack as Sonny Albarado charged forward and was on top after the first weekend.
It comes down to this going into the Final Four this weekend. Sports writer Troy Schulte wins if Wisconsin wins it all, but if Kentucky wins, then former cop shop reporter Jim Brooks takes home top prize.
If Kentucky beats Duke for the championship, yours truly will move up a little, maybe among the top five or six, but that isn't certain because the bracket was tossed days ago.
Oh, if Kentucky and Duke play, there will be five freshman starters who may be in the NBA next season.
Sports on 04/02/2015