SEC fires back at Arkansas AD after schedule complaints

Recently, the game times for some of the early schedule SEC games for the upcoming college football season were announced. One person who was not thrilled about the announcement was Arkansas Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek.

“ESPN has set our game at Utah for 9:15 p.m. Central Time on September 12,” Yurachek wrote. “We anticipate returning to campus at approximately 6 a.m. on Sunday, September 13 — followed by an 11 a.m. home kickoff against Georgia just six days later on September 19,” he wrote in a statement, per Yahoo Sports.

“This assigned schedule will cost our student-athletes nearly a full day of rest and recovery that they would otherwise have available to them.”

Now, the SEC itself has released a statement, seemingly in response to Yurachek’s complaints.

“The Southeastern Conference recognizes and appreciates the many ongoing discussions regarding potential system-wide improvements to ensure the future success of college athletics. The SEC has been intentional, through years of thoughtful planning and decision-making, in strategically positioning itself for future media negotiations,” read the statement in part, per the conference’s official page on X, formerly Twitter.

The conference didn’t directly address Yurachek’s reservations, but instead tied them to a larger discussion about media rights, which certainly are directly related to kickoff times and which teams the conference chooses to put in what slot.

Unfortunately, in this case, Arkansas clearly got the short end of the stick, as the Razorbacks will have to take on the Georgia Bulldogs on a short week of rest, including a likely sleepless night the previous Saturday, potentially eliminating any advantage they would have had from being on their home field.

The post SEC fires back at Arkansas AD after schedule complaints appeared first on ClutchPoints.