Central Arkansas Bears football

For information on all University of Central Arkansas sports, see Central Arkansas Bears and Sugar Bears.

The Central Arkansas Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for University of Central Arkansas (UCA) located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the United Athletic Conference (UAC), which started play in 2023. For the 2021 season, UCA was a de facto associate member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and in 2022 it played in its full-time home of the ASUN Conference. Central Arkansas's first football team was fielded in 1908. The team plays its home games at the 12,000-seat Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas. The Bears are coached by Nathan Brown, in his seventh year.

Central Arkansas Bears football
2025 Central Arkansas Bears football team
First season	1908; 117 years ago
Athletic director	Matt Whiting
Head coach	Nathan Brown 7th season, 43–35 (.551)
Stadium	Estes Stadium (capacity: 12,000)
Field surface	FieldTurf
Location	Conway, Arkansas
NCAA division	Division I FCS
Conference	United Athletic Conference
All-time record	551–372–42 (.593)
Claimed national titles	3 (NAIA): 1984, 1985, 1991
Playoff appearances	2001, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019
Conference titles	28 (22 AIC, 1 GSC, 4 SLC, 1 ASUN)
Rivalries	McNeese State (rivalry)
Colors	Purple and gray[1]
Website	UCASports.com

UCA left the Southland Conference, which had been its all-sports home since 2006 and its football home since 2007, for the ASUN Conference in July 2021. At the time, the ASUN did not sponsor football, but committed to launching an FCS football league in the near future.^[2] In the 2021 season, UCA competed in a football partnership between the ASUN and WAC officially branded as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge".^[3] The ASUN launched its own football league in 2022, but the ASUN and WAC renewed their football partnership for that season; the two leagues shared a single automatic berth in the FCS playoffs in both seasons. After the 2022 season, the ASUN and WAC jointly announced their football-only merger,^[4][5] which was officially rebranded as the United Athletic Conference in April 2023.^[6]

History

The Central Arkansas Bears were formed in 1901 by William Hawkins. Although they finished 1–4–3 in their first season, and have an unusual record of 23–54–22 in its first 20 years of existence, the Bears would play for 7 championships in that span.

UCA would enjoy its greatest success over a 14-year period from 1979 to 1992, when the Bears won or shared 13 of the 14 conference championships, as members of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC). The AIC included in-state schools such as Arkansas Tech, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Monticello, and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. During that time frame, UCA won or shared twelve consecutive AIC titles from 1981 to 1992, as well as three NAIA national championships, in 1984, 1985, and 1991. The Bears were consistently present in the NAIA Top 20, and made the playoffs 12 out of 14 seasons.

In 1993, the Bears left the AIC and the NAIA, and moved up in competition to NCAA Division II joining the Gulf South Conference. Central Arkansas would stay in the West Division of the GSC through the 2006 season, winning the GSC title in 2005. Central Arkansas would move up yet again in 2007, joining the Southland Conference and NCAA Division I-AA/FCS. The Bears would win four Southland championships in 2008, 2012, 2017 and 2019. Central Arkansas would make the playoffs in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019 (where they earned their first national seed in the playoffs at No. 8) winning their first FCS playoff game in 2011 over Tennessee Tech. The Bears also defeated Illinois State in 2016 before losing the next round at Eastern Washington.

In 2021, UCA accepted an invitation to join the ASUN Conference, ending their membership with the Southland on June 30, 2021. The first year of ASUN conference football was a partnership between the ASUN and the revived football league of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), called the ASUN–WAC Challenge. After the ASUN's first year, more new members joined, and a full slate of ASUN-only conference games was scheduled in 2022, although further conference realignment led to the ASUN and WAC renewing their alliance for that season. The alliance received an NCAA waiver that gave it an automatic berth in the FCS playoffs. The two conferences fully merged their football leagues after the 2022 season and became the United Athletic Conference (UAC), beginning in 2023.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

• Nathan Brown
• Dave Burnette
• Monte Coleman
• Tyree Davis
• Willie Davis
• Jacob Ford
• Mike Norvell
• Tremon Smith
• Charlie Strong
• George Odum
• Jonathan Woodard
• David Walker

Championships

National championships

Central Arkansas has won 3 national championships, all on the NAIA level.

Season	Coach	Selectors	Record	Bowl
1984	Harold Horton	NAIA Playoffs	10–2–1	Won NAIA Championship
1985	Harold Horton	NAIA Playoffs	10–2–1	Won NAIA Championship
1991	Mike Isom	NAIA Playoffs	9–2–2	Won NAIA Championship

Conference championships

Central Arkansas has won 28 conference championships in the programs history.

• 22 in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC)
• 4 in the Southland Conference
• 1 in the Gulf South Conference
• 1 in the ASUN conference

Year	Coach	Conference	Overall record	Conference record
1936	Warren B. Woodson	Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference	8–0	6–0
1937			8–1	4–0
1938			7–1	4–0
1940			8–1–1	3–0
1959†	Frank Koon		8–0–1	5–0–1
1962			8–2	7–0
1965†	Raymond Bright		7–1–1	5–1–1
1966†			5–4	4–2
1976†	Ken Stephens		9–3	5–1
1978			9–2	6–0
1980			9–1	6–0
1981			8–3	6–0
1983	Harold Horton		11–1	6–0
1984			10–2–1	6–0
1985†			10–2–1	6–1
1986			9–2	7–0
1987			11–1	6–0
1988			10–1	6–0
1989†			9–1	5–1
1990	Mike Isom		8–4	6–0
1991			9–2–2	5–0–1
1992			9–2–1	6–0
2005	Clint Conque	Gulf South Conference	11–3	8–1
2008		Southland Conference	10–2	6–1
2012†			9–3	6–1
2017	Steve Campbell		10–2	9–0
2019†	Nathan Brown		9–4	7–2
2022†	Nathan Brown	ASUN Conference	5–6	3–2

† Co-champions

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Bears have appeared in the FCS playoffs five times with an overall record of 2–5.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	First Round Second Round	Tennessee Tech Montana	W 34–14 L 14–41
2012	Second Round	Georgia Southern	L 16–24
2016	First Round Second Round	Illinois State Eastern Washington	W 31–24 L 14–31
2017	Second Round	New Hampshire	L 15–21
2019	Second Round	Illinois State	L 14–24

NCAA Division II

The Bears have appeared in the Division II playoffs two times with an overall record of 2–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2001	First Round	Catawba	L 34–35
2005	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Albany State (GA) Presbyterian North Alabama	W 28–20 W 52–28 L 38–41

NAIA

The Bears have appeared in the NAIA playoffs 13 times with an overall record of 12–10–2. They are three time NAIA National Champions (1984, 1985, 1991), with 1984 and 1985 being Co–Champions after ending in a tie in the National Championship Game.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1976	Semifinals National Championship Game	Elon Texas A&M-Kingsville	W 10–7 L 0–26
1978	Quarterfinals	Western State	L 17–22
1980	Quarterfinals	Texas A&M-Commerce	L 21–27
1981	Quarterfinals	Cameron	L 27–48
1983	Quarterfinals Semifinals	Northeastern State (OK) Mesa State	W 18–7 L 17–34
1984	Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game	Moorhead State (MN) Central Washington Carson-Newman	W 30–6 W 44–6 T 19–19
1985	Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game	Pittsburg State Henderson State Hilldale	W 32–22 W 21–9 T 10–10
1986	Quarterfinals	Cameron	L 34–35 4OT
1987	First Round Quarterfinals	Northwestern Oklahoma State Cameron	W 31–7 L 7–14
1988	First Round	Southeastern Oklahoma State	L 14–21
1990	Quarterfinals Semifinals	Northeastern State (OK) Mesa State	W 26–14 L 9–10
1991	Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship Game	Northeastern State (OK) Moorhead State (MN) Central State (OH)	W 30–14 W 38–18 W 19–16
1992	Quarterfinals Semifinals	Southwestern Oklahoma State Central State (OH)	W 14–2 L 23–30

Rivalries

McNeese

Main article: Red Beans and Rice Bowl

The Bears and Cowboys have met 13 times on the football field with UCA leading the series, 7–6. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2019.

McNeese–Central Arkansas: All-Time Record

Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	Central Arkansas wins	Central Arkansas losses	Win %
13	September 17, 1994 (lost 7–21)	October 12, 2019 (won 40–31)	7	6	.545

Arkansas Tech

The Bears also had a long time rivalry with the Arkansas Tech University Wonder Boys located in Russellville, Arkansas, only 45 miles west of Conway along Interstate 40. But that series was discontinued after UCA left the Division II Gulf South Conference, and moved up in competition to the Southland Conference.

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of July 18, 2025.^[7]

2025	2026	2027	2028	2030
at Missouri	North Dakota State	Southeast Missouri State	at Northwestern State	at Idaho State
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	at Southeast Missouri State	Northwestern State
at Sacramento State	at Florida State
at Lamar