Bears’ revised schedule set after SFA changed conferences

UCA coach Nathan Brown (Ted McClenning / allBEARS+)

CONWAY, Ark. — When Stephen F. Austin flipped conferences to the Southland, it caused a lot of juggling with ASUN teams, including Central Arkansas. That included having to hustle to find an opponent for a key date.

Now we know who the Bears will be playing, but the Lumberjacks caused a lot of scrambling for a lot of teams. Exactly how it all came together and a timeline aren’t really clear, but considering SFA had a schedule of 12 games already set with the release, it’s logical to think it wasn’t a last-second move.

Among those teams having to scramble was UCA, but they got it all sorted out. Throw away an schedules you had previously. Some of the national sites, like ESPN, haven’t updated their schedules yet.

For Hall of Fame Weekend on Oct. 12, West Georgia moved from a trip to Conway on Nov. 16 to be that opponent. That game will be at 4 p.m. The 1976 Bears’ annual reunion will be on Friday night, Oct. 11, at Mike’s downtown.

The rest of the juggling got complicated with a lot of teams moving around, but here’s a quick glance at what the schedule is now:

2024 Football Schedule (Revised)
Home games in bold

Aug. 31: at Arkansas State (Jonesboro), 6 p.m.
Sept. 7: at Lindenwood (St. Charles, Mo.), 6 p.m.
Sept. 14: Austin Peay, 6 p.m.
Sept. 21: at UAPB (Pine Bluff), 6 p.m.
Sept. 28: Lamar, 6 p.m.
Oct. 5: at Abilene Christian (Abilene, Texas), 3 p.m.
• Oct. 12: West Georgia, Hall of Fame Weekend, 4 p.m.
• Oct. 26: North Alabama, Homecoming, 4 p.m.
Nov. 9: at Eastern Kentucky, TBA
Nov. 16: Southern Utah, 4 p.m.
Nov. 23: at Tarleton State (Stephenville, Texas), TBA