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FAYETTEVILLE — If Texas A&M gets its way, one possible move in a unique 2020 college football season is a change in venue for its annual matchup against Arkansas.
The former Southwest Conference and current SEC West foes have met at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in a game known as the Southwest Classic every year but two since 2009.
However, in an interview with Studio 12 - the Aggies’ official radio show and podcast - on Wednesday, Texas A&M athletics director Ross Bjork said he would like this year’s game to be moved back to campus, especially if the SEC opts to go with a conference-only schedule.
In that scenario, the Aggies would have only three scheduled home games, as they are the designated home team for the 2020 Southwest Classic. If played on campus, the Arkansas game would be their fourth game in College Station, Texas.
“We would need that game on campus,” Bjork said. “To me, that game should be on campus anyway. But if something were to happen this year, we’d do everything we can to move that game to our campus.”
Bjork, who became Texas A&M’s athletics director last summer, has already gone on record with his desire for the Aggies to play all of their conference games on campus. That is the opposite stance of his predecessor, Scott Woodward, who is now the AD at LSU.
When asked about it during a Zoom videoconference with local media Thursday, Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek acknowledged that he and Bjork have discussed the game. He also said he understood his desire due to Texas A&M already losing a scheduled home game against Colorado because of the Pac-12’s decision to implement a conference-only schedule.
Much like the Razorbacks’ games in Little Rock, though, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey would serve as the “final arbitrator” on the decision, Yurachek said. If the game is moved, the Arkansas AD did say he would want a return trip to Fayetteville in 2021.
“If that game is moved to College Station, I think it would be fair that we get that return game here in Fayetteville next year and then potentially resume in Dallas for the final two years of that contract,” Yurachek said. “I wouldn’t want to see Texas A&M get a home game this year and for us not to get that return game next year.”
That would not be an unprecedented move for the two schools. After three non-conference games at AT&T Stadium from 2009-11, the series briefly went to a home-and-home format when Texas A&M joined the conference in 2012.
They played in College Station that season and in Fayetteville in 2013 before returning to Arlington, Texas, where they are currently under contract to play through the 2024 season.
With the upcoming season’s schedule still so fluid, Bjork acknowledged that no decisions have to be made right now and Yurachek said they’ll see how the schedule plays out.
Considering Arkansas’ ties to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones - he played on the 1964 national championship team and has donated millions of dollars to the program - it seems as though Yurachek wants to continue the game at AT&T Stadium, even if there is a two-year break for a home-and-home.
“Obviously, we have a relationship with the Jones family here,” Yurachek said. “They’re very supportive of that game, they own that venue, so (Bjork’s) feelings on that may be slightly different than mine.”
