UAPB announces start of ’24 football season
For the second-straight year, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will begin football season on a Thursday night.
The 2024 season-opener between UAPB and the University of Arkansas has been moved up two days to Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m., the schools announced Friday. The game will be played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock and televised on ESPNU.
This will be the second alltime meeting between the Golden Lions and the Razorbacks. The first game was played Oct. 23, 2021, also in Little Rock. Arkansas won 45-3.
It will mark the second-straight season UAPB opens football season on a Thursday night. Last year, the Golden Lions opened at Tulsa, one of three non-Saturday football games they played in 2023. The Golden Hurricane won 42-7.
Arkansas last opened its season on a Thursday in 2017 when the Razorbacks hosted Florida A&M in Little Rock. This game will mark a second-straight season the Hogs begin the year in Little Rock against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent after Arkansas defeated Western Carolina 56-13 at War Memorial Stadium on a Saturday.
The only non-Saturday game Arkansas played last season was its season finale, a Friday home game in Fayetteville against No. 10 Missouri. The Tigers won 48-14.
UAPB hasn’t played an SEC opponent since its previous meeting with Arkansas. It last faced a Power Five opponent in 2022 when the Golden Lions lost 63-7 at Oklahoma State. This will be the first Power Five opponent for the Golden Lions under second-year head coach Alonzo Hampton.
Arkansas will be one of three in-state opponents for UAPB this year. After this trip to Little Rock, UAPB will host Arkansas Baptist on Sept. 7 and Central Arkansas on Set. 21. A trip to Memphis to play Tennessee State in the Southern Heritage Classic on Sept. 14 will be UAPB’s only trip outside of the Natural State during non-conference play.