Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Along with the announcement Wednesday that Arkansas would be competing in this season’s Las Vegas Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Razorbacks will have plenty of nonconference opposition that could help the Ratings Percentage Index, no matter the game’s result.

The Razorbacks’ division in the Las Vegas Invite will include Big Ten power Wisconsin, perennial Missouri Valley Conference contender Creighton and Pac 12-member Arizona State.

Mike Anderson said last week at a Razorback Club meeting in Heber Springs that the upcoming season’s schedule will include a return trip for UConn or some other Big East member to Bud Walton Arena, as part of the SEC-Big East Challenge, and Oklahoma will visit Bud Walton as well. UConn has never played in Fayetteville; the Huskies beat Arkansas 75-62 last season in Hartford, Conn.

Arkansas’ SEC schedule may grow with an additional two games from the usual 16 per season with the additions of Missouri and Texas A&M to the league this year.

HOWLING MAD FOR THE MIDFIELD LOOK: Arkansas State fans and officials at War Memorial Stadium on Wednesday night took note of the Red Wolves emblem at midfield of the stadium.

It prompted ASU Athletic Director Dean Lee to note that the stadium field “had never looked better.”

According to stadium commissioner Kevin Crass, War Memorial purchased a machine that can put down and remove a special type of paint that is used for any emblems the stadium needs to put on the artificial turf of the stadium.

Razorback fans, of course, realize that a Hog is now painted at midfield for Arkansas’ games in Little Rock, while the Arkansas Activities Association has its own emblem to use during all the state classification championship games in December.

The red-and-white “ARKANSAS” in the end zones and the black-and-white “AT&T emblems on the field are sewn into the turf, but the stadium can add anything else it might want with its field-painting gadget.

Gus Malzahn and A-State brought their 15-stop, three-day road trip to War Memorial Stadium on Thursday night, where more than 250 people packed into the suite level of the press box to hear Malzahn discuss the 2012 recruiting class and his hopes for the upcoming season.

Also noting the Red Wolves emblem at midfield, Malzahn said he looked forward to scheduling a BCS-level opponent for the stadium — he hoped by next season. Speculation that ASU was to announce such a game Wednesday night proved unfounded, but Malzahn talked about his good memories at the stadium, particularly in bringing three different high school programs to Little Rock for state championship games and winning with Shiloh Christian and, most recently, Springdale in 2005.

“We want to schedule a BCS school here, we want to pack the place, and we want to whip them,” Malzahn said about ASU’s schedule plans for Little Rock.