December 20, 2020
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the first time since 2016, the Arkansas Razorbacks go bowling, being selected to play TCU in the Mercari Texas Bowl at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on December 31 at 7:00 PM on ESPN.
The match against the former rival of the Southwest TCU Conference will be the 71st in history, dating from the first meeting in 1920. The Hogs and Horned Frogs last met in 2017 as the second game in a series at home and home. Nr. 23 TCU overtook Arkansas in Fayetteville 28-7 in 2017. Razorbacks pulled out No. 15 TCU 41-38 in a double overtime in Ft. Worth, Texas in 2016. Arkansas is 44-24-2 all-time against the Horned Frogs.
Under first-year head coach Sam Pittman, the Razorbacks have won three games against a full SEC program, tripling the number of SEC victories in the last three seasons combined. Arkansas won a series of 20 losing games in the Southeastern Conference at No. 16 in Mississippi for coach Pittman’s first victory as Head Hog and followed with victories over Miss Ole and Tennessee.
Coach Pittman becomes the first Arkansas head coach to lead the Razorbacks to a bowl game in his first season since Houston Nutt led the Hogs to the Florida Citrus Bowl to end the 1998 season. Pittman is only the fifth Arkansas head coach to led Razorbacks in a bowl game in his first season on The Hill, joining Nutt, Ken Hatfield (1984), Lou Holtz (1977) and John Barnhill (1946).
The Mercari Texas Bowl will be the 43rd appearance of the bowl for Arkansas, dating from the 1934 Dixie Classic in Dallas, a 7-7 draw against the Centenary.
Due to limited capacity at NRG Stadium, tickets will not be available through the Razorback Ticket Center. Fans interested in attending the Texas Bowl can visit mercaritexasbowl.com for ticket information.