Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Columbia, Mo., home of the University of Missouri, sits just a little more than 300 miles from the Arkansas campus. That proximity would easily make the school, accepted Sunday into the Southeastern Conference, the closest league opponent for the Razorbacks.

Even so there is no guarantee the two programs will have an annual rivalry in all sports, including football. Currently the Tigers are set to begin play on July 1, 2012 as a member of the SEC East.

Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long would like to see that change. Missouri is more of a natural geographic fit for the West and could eliminate travel for schools in the league. Plus, having the Tigers in the same division would be beneficial for the Razorbacks when it comes to developing another rival with proximity.

“We would like to see Missouri in the West,” Long said. “We think that makes sense from our standpoint, having them in the West, playing them on a regular basis. ...Long-term I hope there is an opportunity to look at Missouri in the West."

“Again, that’s one school of 14's opinion, but I hope we look at that over time.”

Another potential way to get Missouri on the football schedule regularly if the Tigers remain in the East would be to make them Arkansas’ permanent interdivision rival. That distinction currently goes to South Carolina, which is located more than 900 miles away in Columbia, S.C.

Part of the Tigers’ current placement in the East has to do with preserving rivalries. Alabama and Auburn did not want to be split and moving Auburn to the East would have potentially eliminated a historic rivalry between Tennessee and Alabama.

One potential fix would be a nine-game league schedule for football. South Carolina President Harris Pastides was quoted earlier this week as saying a nine-game schedule was coming.

SEC officials later tweeted that the current eight-game format would continue. Long said he would have to study the feasibility of a nine-game schedule, but he was unaware that such a setup was on the table.

“That’s not something presidents and chancellors have discussed,” Long sad. “We heard a report this morning, but I haven’t developed an opinion. … Flexibility in the non-conference schedule is something we think is important, but if that’s something the conference wants us to look at and the schools in the conference want us to consider, it’s certainly something we’ll look at. But I don’t have an opinion on it yet because I don’t have an opinion on how it would impact our program.”

Long said no meeting of league athletic directors has been scheduled. He does anticipate all 14 will get together in the relatively near future to further study and make decisions on accommodating Missouri and Texas A&M into the league. Scheduling is ongoing for all sports now that the Tigers and Aggies have joined.

Even with issues to work out, Long said he is glad Missouri has been accepted into the league. He praises the institutions academic reputation and noted the Tigers would be competitive athletically as well.

“From an Arkansas standpoint, the fact they’re in a bordering state and would become our closest opponent in the SEC is good for us,” Long said. “We certainly recognize we recruit student-athletes from the state of Missouri. So from our standpoint we’re excited to have them in the league and look forward to working with them.”