By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said earlier this spring the Razorbacks were proud members of the Southeastern Conference.
But with the college football landscape on the verge of major changes this month, and with Arkansas’ name continuing to emerge in conversation about the Big 12, Long made sure to reaffirm the commitment Wednesday.
Long issued a statement through Arkansas’ media relations department saying the Razorbacks had no interest in leaving the 12-team league to join the new-look Big 12, which was trimmed to 10 teams with the departures of Nebraska and Colorado last week.
“In recent weeks and months there has been much national dialogue regarding conference affiliation in intercollegiate athletics,” Long said in the statement. “In the course of that dialogue some have suggested that the University of Arkansas was an institution that may be pursued by other conferences. From the beginning, we have been very clear that the University of Arkansas is a proud member of the Southeastern Conference and has no interest in joining another conference. Chancellor (David) Gearhart has been unwavering in his support of our institution’s continued membership in the SEC.
“Recent events have not in any way altered our commitment or desire to remain a member of what we believe is the strongest conference in the nation.”
Long’s statement came the same day two media reports indicated Arkansas moving to the Big 12 was possible.
Kevin Scarbinsky, a columnist at The Birmingham News, wrote that high ranking officials at SEC schools were concerned the Big 12 may try to lure Arkansas away.
Tom Keegan of the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World also wrote Wednesday that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was trying to get the Razorbacks to the Big 12. The story cited a source “familiar with his thinking” and indicated Jones also wanted Notre Dame in the league.
A move to the Big 12 has been a popular thought largely because of Arkansas’ geography and ties to the region.
The school is closer to Big 12 programs like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Texas than most schools in the SEC. Arkansas also had long-standing rivalries with many Big 12 schools in the old Southwest Conference before leaving to join the SEC in 1992.
But Long has been proactive in denying any interest in moving Arkansas to the Big 12 this spring.
Last month, Long told the Arkansas News Bureau any report or suggestions indicating Arkansas would “fit” better in the Big 12 was an uninformed one.
He added that the SEC was a conference of “strength” and “not one that would be subject to losing members.”
“There are overwhelming reasons to remain in the strongest conference in the United States,” Long said in the interview with the Arkansas News Bureau. “I think there’s not really a question other than some people’s view that we might ‘fit’ better with the institutions in the Big 12. … But if you look at what we bring to the SEC, what the SEC has brought to us, I think there’s overwhelming reasons to being in the SEC.”
