Arkansas vs. Arkansas State government-mandated charity matchup shot down

Big government is trying to force mandated football into your lives, y'all!

John Lyon of the Arkansas News Bureau reports that the two major college football programs in the state of Arkansas won't be coerced into a matchup by the state legislature. The Arkansas House Rules Committee ruled against House Bill 2274, which would have required the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Arkansas St. Red Wolves to play at least one football game a year at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, with portions of the revenue going to charity. Half the state seemed to be in favor of the idea, but legislators who opposed the measure indicated that they shouldn't have a role in legislating football matchups.

Arkansas and Arkansas State have never had a traditional rivalry. The Razorbacks traditionally relied on Texas A&M (their old foes from the Southwest Conference) as their big out-of-conference matchup and have frowned upon a matchup with the Red Wolves, who have been a traditional in-state power but have done very little inside the conference.