FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will play at Colorado State on Sept. 8, 2018, according to a release.
That game, as well as a previously scheduled game between the teams Sept. 14, 2019, in Fayetteville, replaces a series against Michigan that was canceled last summer when the Wolverines paid $2 million to break a contract with the Razorbacks. Colorado State will satisfy the SEC's requirement to play a Power 5 opponent, according to the conference office.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said last summer that he would work with Arkansas to replace Michigan on the schedule. The timing of the Wolverines' cancelation left the Razorbacks with a relatively short time to schedule a marquee opponent.
In a letter dated Wednesday, Sankey approved Arkansas' request to use Colorado State as its Power 5 substitute. The Razorbacks formally requested the waiver last Thursday.
"This waiver is granted upon the specific facts of this case and will not serve as precedent for future cases," Sankey wrote.
Arkansas agreed to a 2018 game with Colorado State on Dec. 19, 2016. Colorado State athletics director Joe Parker signed the agreement on Feb. 22, 2017.
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“Since we received the news of that cancellation this past summer, we worked on a number of scenarios to meet the SEC requirement, but were ultimately unable to find a Power 5 conference opponent at this late date," Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said. "I would like to thank Commissioner Sankey and the other SEC ADs for their cooperation with the waiver. Colorado State is an outstanding program with a beautiful new football stadium. We look forward to our series with them in the coming years.”
Colorado State is scheduled to open a 41,000-capacity on-campus stadium in Fort Collins, Colo., later this year that will cost $220 million to construct, according to The Coloradan. The Rams are a member of Mountain West Conference and were 7-6 last season with a win over Idaho in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The 2019 game between Arkansas and Colorado State was announced last year along with a home-and-home basketball series between the teams that is scheduled to begin in Fayetteville in the 2017-18 season.
Arkansas and Colorado State have played three times and not since 1990. The Razorbacks have won all three meetings played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Arkansas will be the second SEC team to visit the Colorado State campus in Fort Collins and first since Mississippi State in 1981.
“This is exciting for our football program and for our fans,” Colorado State coach Mike Bobo said. “Being able to bring an SEC opponent to Fort Collins speaks to the growth of our program and also speaks to the impact our new on-campus stadium is already making. We want to challenge ourselves in our non-conference schedule and also bring those quality opponents to our home field and our fans.”
In addition to Colorado State, Arkansas is scheduled to play Eastern Illinois, North Texas and Tulsa in home nonconference games in 2018. The SEC schedule for that season likely will be announced in September.