Texas Bowl canceled due to COVID-19

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FAYETTEVILLE — The 2020 Texas Bowl has been canceled, it was officially announced Tuesday afternoon.

According to a press release from ESPN, the decision was "due to an increased number of positive COVID-19 tests and other circumstances within the TCU football program." Tickets will be refunded.

The game, which would have been Arkansas’ first bowl appearance since the 2016 Belk Bowl, was scheduled to be played at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, New Year’s Eve, on ESPN.

The Razorbacks were set to leave for Houston on Tuesday, but the public send-off was canceled and the buses to the airport were delayed until they left - with no one onboard - following the announcement.

It is believed to be the 17th bowl game canceled this postseason, including the third involving an SEC team. South Carolina and Missouri were scheduled to play in the Gasparilla and Music City Bowls, respectively, but those games were canceled because of COVID-19 issues within each SEC program.

A fourth SEC team, Tennessee, also had to withdraw from the Liberty Bowl because of issues in its program, but Army stepped in as a replacement to keep that game on as scheduled.

Pig Trail Nation is reporting that Texas Bowl reps reached out to possible replacements to play Arkansas, but were unsuccessful in their efforts.