FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks announced a home-and-home series with Colorado State on Wednesday that completed their 2018 schedule and brought a half measure of resolution to the crisis Michigan initiated last summer by reneging on a contract with the Razorbacks.
The Razorbacks will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., on Sept. 8, 2018, after opening at home against Eastern Illinois.
The following season, Colorado State will visit Fayetteville on Sept. 14 in a game that had been previously contracted and announced.
Michigan triggered a $2 million buyout clause last July when the Wolverines backed out of an agreement to open the 2018 and 2019 seasons against the Razorbacks.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville still has one non-conference game to fill on its 2019 schedule, as the home game against Colorado State was already on the books.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey granted Arkansas a waiver to a conference rule that requires schools to schedule at least one Power 5 non-conference opponent every season. The waiver applies to both 2018 and 2019.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, speaking Tuesday night in Tulsa, said the work Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long, assistant athletic director for football operations Mark Taurisani, himself and others devoted to setting up the Colorado State game opened other scheduling avenues.
"Even to get this one announced, I think there was a 10-person agreement of different teams, different conferences that all had to make this happen," Bielema said.
"The good news is now we've been able to parlay it, been in contact with a couple of really big [non-conference programs] here."
Arkansas holds a 3-0 edge in its series against Colorado State, which was last played in 1990.
Arkansas agreed to the 2018 game on Dec. 19 and Colorado State Athletic Director signed the new agreement on Feb. 22.
Colorado State, of the Mountain West Conference, will host its first SEC team in 37 years, since a visit by Mississippi State in 1981. The Rams made a play to join the Big 12 Conference last year, but the bid failed as the conference elected not to expand.
The Rams are scheduled to open a new football stadium on Sept. 9 with a seating capacity of 36,000 and a total capacity of 41,000.
Long expressed his appreciation for the SEC and Colorado State in a statement.
"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," 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."
Officials from Arkansas and Colorado State agreed to make payments to the visiting team each year of the contract, but UA officials redacted the financial agreement in response to a public records request made by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Arkansas' full list of non-conference games in 2018 is Sept. 1 vs. Eastern Illinois, Sept. 8 at Colorado State, Sept. 15 vs. North Texas and Oct. 20 vs. Tulsa. The Eastern Illinois and Tulsa games were announced Tuesday. All three of the non-conference home games are expected to be played at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on campus because the UA's contract with War Memorial Stadium calls for an SEC game in 2018.
Colorado State finished 7-6 under Coach Mike Bobo last season, when he became the first coach in school history to lead the Rams to bowl games in his first two years. Bobo, a former Georgia quarterback, was a long-time offensive coordinator at Georgia before moving to Colorado State.
"This is exciting for our football program and for our fans," Bobo said in a statement. "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."
UA football schedules
2017
DATE OPPONENT TIME
Aug. 31 Florida A&M 7 p.m.
War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
Sept. 9 TCU TBA
Sept. 23 Texas A&M* TBA
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Sept. 30 New Mexico State TBA
Oct. 7 at South Carolina* TBA
Oct. 14 at Alabama* TBA
Oct. 21 Auburn* TBA
Oct. 28 at Ole Miss* TBA
Nov. 4 Coastal Carolina TBA
Nov. 11 at LSU* TBA
Nov. 18 Mississippi State* TBA
Nov. 25 Missouri* TBA
2018 (INCOMPLETE)
DATE OPPONENT TIME
Sept. 1 Eastern Illinois TBA
Sept. 8 at Colorado State TBA
Sept. 29 Texas A&M* TBA
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Oct. 20 Tulsa TBA *SEC game NOTE The remaining SEC games for the 2018 schedule will be determined at a later date.
Sports on 03/09/2017