Da_Sperm
New Member
I disagree uca really doesn't recruit Ark. as much since they have gone DI, if you look at their roster they have more kids froms from TX, south LA and Mississippi juco's. We haven't gone head to head with them to much but when we do we got our share of players. Their facilities are not any better than ours but what they do have is more support staff which makes a differences.
Moving from DII to D1 means stiffer academic requirements, so UCA has to open its recruitment base up to a wider area (ie TX) to get students who will qualify. UCA is trying to be an ALTERNATIVE to Razorback football in Arkansas. That means that their fan base would include fans within a 100 miles radius, both black and white fans. Their recruiting base is even larger. Playing UCA doesn't improve the in-state recruiting base at all for either school. To get in-state D1 caliber athletes who qualify, they both are competing against out of state programs moreso than each other. When UAPB plays those D2 schools and gets their azz kicked, they are basically sending recruits to the D2 schools!
Has you guys ever seen the Razorbacks play any in-state school in any sport? Wonder why? They have everything to lose and nothing to gain. The Razorbacks would rather play UL-Monroe in Little Rock and let it be a home game for UL-Monroe than to play Arkansas State. They can't afford to let the fans and recruits in Arkansas even think that another program can compete with the Razorbacks. In 1984, Nolan's first year as head coach, Arkansas played Arkansas State in the NIT post season tournament. A-State had Arkansas down by 20 points. Nolan daughter was dying from a disease and all the fans wanted him out. Arkansas rallied back behind a lil white kid named Cannon Whitney and beat A-State in overtime. Had Nolan lost this game, he would have been gone. Arkansas had nothing to gain from this game.
Same for UAPB. As long as UAPB doesn't play UCA or any other state school, then UAPB is at worse the 3rd choice for football in the state. We are the 3rd oldest D1 program in Arkansas behind UA and A-State. As soon as we start playing in-state schools and they win or even compete, then we start to lose our recruiting edge. UCA already has more money, but they don't have the reputation just yet.
This totally different than Texas where in state games are required to get recruits.