Central Arkansas is taking over the college football universe through sheer number-of-games-on-the-schedule, making sure everyone knows they exist by completing two games (assuming Thursday’s tilt with UAB goes off as planned) before everyone else (besides UAB) has finished one. It’s an old trick—UCA did this in the college basketball season too by playing Baylor early in the day on the first day games were allowed—but it’s working, and it proves to all who doubt that Central Arkansas entirely understands how to use their athletic department to prop up the overall budget.
The question, then, for this athletic department on the rise, is an obvious one: Could Central Arkansas take over the NIT? And the answer, of course, is that they need to make it first.
UCA finished ninth in the Southland Conference last year. Not great, but not terrible in a 13-team league (of course the Southland has a prime number of teams—nothing is simple in the Southland). They were only a game below .500 in league play, so while they failed to beat a single non-Southland Division I opponent (tough schedule, to be fair—as you could guess, these guys love buy games), it’s not inconceivable that they could stun this collection of public low-majors located primarily in Texas and Louisiana, lose in the double-stepladder conference tournament, and find themselves in the NIT. If, of course, we have a normal season. If we don’t have a normal season, it’s conceivable that they could finish second in the league, or just show up at the NIT and say, “Hey, we know this isn’t the safest thing in the world, but we’re here to make money,” and when the NIT says, “Oh, making money isn’t something that happens with the NIT,” say, “Oh, well, we’re here anyway. Let’s hoop.”
There are a few things that make UCA a compelling NIT figure. For one, they’re located in Conway, Arkansas but have managed to recruit a Parisian and two Boiseans. Talk about culture. For another…shit. I forgot the other one. Was I going to break the Paris and Boise thing into two things?
There is one thing that makes UCA a compelling NIT figure. They’re located in Conway, Arkansas but have managed to recruit a Parisian and two Boiseans. Talk about culture.
The problems, though, are many. Seven-footer Hayden Koval, arguably the team’s best player, has transferred to UNC-Greensboro (think it was a grad transfer?). They play in the same conference as Stephen F. Austin, a team that’s presumably losing some talent but is also one of the few low-major schools actually known for basketball, thanks to Brad Underwood, Thomas Walkup, and a hilarious loss by Duke last November. If Stephen F. Austin falters, there are still eight Southland teams that finished ahead of UCA last year, and while we could hash out the Northwestern State/McNeese/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi/UCA debate for hours minutes, even if you’re generous to the Bears, you have to admit they’re starting from lower ground than five of their rivals.
The odds are long, but the opportunity is there. And nobody tells Dr. Brad Teague the odds.
