2018 Schedule Release: Arkansas still mulling SEC opponent at War Memorial

An Arkansas helmet is shown before an NCAA college football game against Auburn, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Samantha Baker)
An Arkansas helmet is shown before an NCAA college football game against Auburn, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Samantha Baker)

— Arkansas' 2018 schedule will include five consecutive home games in October and November, but the university has yet to determine which of those games will be played at War Memorial Stadium.

The Razorbacks will play Alabama, Ole Miss, Tulsa, Vanderbilt and LSU at home between Oct. 6 and Nov. 10 next year, with an open date scheduled for Nov. 3. One of those SEC games must be played in Little Rock, according to the university's contract with War Memorial Stadium.

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Many have speculated the Razorbacks will play Vanderbilt there next season because other home games figure to draw more fans to the larger Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

But the 2018 game at War Memorial Stadium holds added significance because it is the final of a five-game agreement between the parties that was modified in November 2013. The agreement stipulated the Razorbacks would play two SEC games and three nonconference games at the stadium, beginning with a game against Georgia in 2014. Arkansas has played Toledo, Alcorn State and Florida A&M in Little Rock the past three seasons.

Earlier this month, Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said he hoped the university's board of trustees would determine the fate of the Razorbacks' games at War Memorial Stadium by the end of this football season. Not knowing whether the team will play in Little Rock in future years complicates scheduling, Long said.

The Razorbacks have played at least one game at the stadium each season since it opened in 1948.

Arkansas' 2018 SEC schedule begins with consecutive games away from home — at Auburn on Sept. 22 and against Texas A&M on Sept. 29. Arkansas is scheduled to finish with consecutive games at Mississippi State and Missouri.

A determination won't be made until next spring whether Arkansas and Missouri will play Black Friday. The teams have played the day after Thanksgiving each season since 2014 and the Razorbacks' tradition of playing games that day dates to the 1990s.

Nonconference games against Eastern Illinois on Sept. 1, at Colorado State on Sept. 8, North Texas on Sept. 15 and Tulsa on Oct. 20 already had been discovered through open records requests.

2018 Arkansas Football Schedule

Sept. 1 - Eastern Illinois

Sept. 8 - at Colorado State

Sept. 15 - North Texas

Sept. 22 - at Auburn

Sept. 29 - Texas A&M (Arlington, Texas)

Oct. 6 - Alabama

Oct. 13 - Ole Miss

Oct. 20 - Tulsa

Oct. 27 - Vanderbilt

Nov. 10 - LSU

Nov. 17 - at Mississippi State

Nov. 24 - at Missouri

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