UCA left the Southland Conference, which had been its all-sports home since 2006 and its football home since 2007, for the ASUN Conference in July 2021. At the time, the ASUN did not sponsor football, but committed to launching an FCS football league in the near future.[2] In the 2021 season, UCA competed in a football partnership between the ASUN and WAC officially branded as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge".[3] The ASUN launched its own football league in 2022, but the ASUN and WAC renewed their football partnership for that season; the two leagues shared a single automatic berth in the FCS playoffs in both seasons. After the 2022 season, the ASUN and WAC jointly announced their football-only merger,[4][5] which was officially rebranded as the United Athletic Conference in April 2023.[6]
History
The Central Arkansas Bears were formed in 1901 by William Hawkins. Although they finished 1-4-3 in their first season, and have an unusual record of 23-54-22 in its first 20 years of existence, the Bears would play for 7 championships in that span.
UCA would enjoy its greatest success over a 14-year period from 1979 to 1992, when the Bears won or shared 13 of the 14 conference championships, as members of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC). The AIC included in-state schools such as Arkansas Tech, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Monticello, and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. During that time frame, UCA won or shared twelve consecutive AIC titles from 1981 - 1992, as well as three NAIA national championships, in 1984, 1985, and 1991. The Bears were a constant presence in the NAIA Top 20, and made the playoffs 12 out of 14 seasons.
In 1993, the Bears left the AIC and the NAIA, and moved up in competition to the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference. Central Arkansas would stay in the West Division of the GSC through the 2006 season, winning the GSC title in 2005. UCA moved up yet again, in 2007, joining the Southland Conference who are a member of the NCAA Division I-AA. The Bears have since won four Southland championships in 2008, 2012, 2017 and 2019. Central Arkansas also made the playoffs in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019 (where they earned their first national seed in the playoffs at #8) winning their first FCS playoff game in 2011 over Tennessee Tech. The Bears also defeated Illinois State in 2016 before losing the next round at Eastern Washington.
In 2021, UCA accepted an invitation to join the ASUN Conference, ending their membership with the Southland on June 30, 2021. The first year of ASUN conference football was a partnership between the ASUN and the revived football league of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), called the ASUN–WAC Challenge. After the ASUN's first year, more new members joined, and a full slate of ASUN-only conference games was scheduled in 2022, although further conference realignment led to the ASUN and WAC renewing their alliance for that season. The alliance received an NCAA waiver that gave it an automatic berth in the FCS playoffs. The two conferences fully merged their football leagues after the 2022 season and became the United Athletic Conference (UAC), beginning in 2023.
The Bears have appeared in the NAIA playoffs 13 times with an overall record of 12–10–2. They are three time NAIA National Champions (1984, 1985, 1991), with 1984 and 1985 being Co–Champions after ending in a tie in the National Championship Game.
Year
Round
Opponent
Result
1976
Semifinals National Championship Game
Elon Texas A&M-Kingsville
W 10–7 L 0–26
1978
Quarterfinals
Western State
L 17–22
1980
Quarterfinals
Texas A&M-Commerce
L 21–27
1981
Quarterfinals
Cameron
L 27–48
1983
Quarterfinals Semifinals
Northeastern State (OK) Mesa State
W 18–7 L 17–34
1984
Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game
Moorhead State (MN) Central Washington Carson-Newman
W 30–6 W 44–6 T 19–19
1985
Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game
Pittsburg State Henderson State Hilldale
W 32–22 W 21–9 T 10–10
1986
Quarterfinals
Cameron
L 34–35 4OT
1987
First Round Quarterfinals
Northwestern Oklahoma State Cameron
W 31–7 L 7–14
1988
First Round
Southeastern Oklahoma State
L 14–21
1990
Quarterfinals Semifinals
Northeastern State (OK) Mesa State
W 26–14 L 9–10
1991
Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game
Northeastern State (OK) Moorhead State (MN) Central State (OH)
The two teams have met 13 times on the football field with UCA leading the series, 7–6. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2019.
McNeese–Central Arkansas: All-Time Record
Games played
First meeting
Last meeting
Central Arkansas wins
Central Arkansas losses
Win%
13
September 17, 1994 (lost 7–21)
October 12, 2019 (won 40–31)
7
6
.545
Arkansas Tech
The Bears also had a long time rivalry with Arkansas Tech University, located in Russellville, Arkansas, only 45 miles west of Conway along Interstate 40, but that series was discontinued after UCA left the Gulf South Conference, and moved up in competition to the Southland Conference.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
