By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com

FAYETTEVILLE — The long wait for the 2012 football schedule finally ended Wednesday, when the Southeastern Conference finalized its plans for the 14-team conference.

But the unveiling doesn’t mean Arkansas’ schedule is now complete. In fact, the biggest questions pertaining to the 12-game slate — like who will be Arkansas’ final opponent and where will it play Texas A&M — remained unanswered.

“Our situation is a little more difficult than most in the SEC of the existing members,” Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said Wednesday night.

The release of Arkansas’ eight-game conference schedule, at least, produced no real twists or turns.

The Razorbacks will play home games against Alabama (Sept. 15), Kentucky (Oct. 13), Ole Miss (Oct. 27) and LSU (Nov. 24). Arkansas will go on the road to play at Auburn (Oct. 6), South Carolina (Nov. 10) and Mississippi State (Nov. 17). Arkansas will play new SEC West foe Texas A&M on Sept. 29, but the site of the game has not been finalized.

The Aggies have been designated as the home team and the Houston Chronicle reported earlier this week Texas A&M did not want to play Arkansas in Cowboys Stadium again and the game was being moved to campus. Long said he was unaware of that sentiment from the Aggies, insisting discussions are ongoing to determine whether the game will be played in Arlington, Texas, or in College Station next season.

Arkansas and Texas A&M have played three games in a 10-year deal in Cowboys Stadium. Long said a resolution “could be days, could be weeks, could be after the bowl season.”

“It’s undetermined,” Long said of the future. “I don’t know to be honest. … I do expect, Arkansas, we’re going to hold up our side of that and we want to continue to play there. We would like to continue to play Texas A&M there.”

Long said finalizing the site of the game is an important piece of the scheduling puzzle because it may affect who the Razorbacks can add as a 12th opponent.

The Razorbacks have three nonconference games set, beginning with the season opener against former Arkansas coach Jack Crowe and Jacksonville State. Arkansas also plays Louisiana-Monroe and Tulsa.

Long said Arkansas is working diligently to nail down the last opponent. He revealed last week the Razorbacks had spoken to at least 30 schools, including three big-name opponents, about scheduling a game. But no deal is set.

“We think we have options,” Long said. “People aren’t committing. Some are out there waiting and they’re hedging their bets so to speak, that there is going to be a change in some conference alignment still that could allow them to schedule a game, or not schedule a game, or have a game they need to get out of, or a game they need to get.”

The final nonconference game will fall on either Sept. 22 or Oct. 20. Long said the Razorbacks would like to schedule a BCS opponent, but won’t be able to hold off forever.

“I’m not sure I can gamble and wait that long to see if an opponent will fall out,” Long said. “It may be a choice of here’s an opponent you can get, it may not be the most desirable, but you want to fill your schedule with 12.”

The location of Arkansas’ seven home games have not been determined, and won’t be, until the schedule is completed.

Long said the Razorbacks will continue to play two of their home games in Little Rock, according to the contract the school has with War Memorial Stadium. The contract stipulates one of those games will be an SEC opponent

Arkansas is expected to play Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock as part of a five-game contract between the schools that began in 2004. But there’s a possibility the season-ending game against LSU — which has been played in Little Rock since 1994 — could be moved to Fayetteville and replaced with another SEC opponent in War Memorial Stadium.

“I don’t feel like I can make that decision until I know who that 12th team is,” Long said of the Little Rock games.

“There’s a wide range in there that we’re working with. So I didn’t think it was right and fair, and I wasn’t comfortable to be quite honest, to decide on the Little Rock games until we have a complete schedule.”

2012 Arkansas Razorbacks Schedule
* One Game To Be Determined
Sept. 1 – Jacksonville State
Sept. 8 – Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 15 – Alabama
Sept. 22 – Nonconference game or Open date
Sept. 29 – vs. Texas A&M (Location TBD)
Oct. 6 – at Auburn
Oct. 13 – Kentucky
Oct. 20 – Nonconference game or Open date
Oct. 27 – Ole Miss
Nov. 3 – Tulsa
Nov. 10 – at South Carolina
Nov. 17 – at Mississippi State
Nov. 24 – LSU