Arkansas State and Memphis to Resume Regional Rivalry in 2020

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

While not one of the bigger rivalries in the deep south, when the formerly named Memphis State Tigers and Arkansas State, initially named Indians but now Red Wolves, have squared off, college football fans in east Arkansas and west Tennessee have taken notice. Since 1975, the two schools have met on the field 19 times with Memphis owning the series 13-5-1 but ASU has rapidly grown as a football program over the last six years making this match-up a far more interesting contest with potential regional television appeal.

Over the weekend, Memphis and Arkansas State announced a four-game home-and-home series that will begin in 2020 running through 2023. The Tigers will host ASU in 2020 and 2022 with the Red Wolves playing host in 2021 and 2023.

Memphis won the last contest in 2013 by a score of 31-7 in the middle of an 8-5 season for one-year ASU head coach Bryan Harsin. The Red Wolves have posted five consecutive winning seasons under four different head coaches: Hugh Freeze (Ole Miss), Gus Malzahn (Auburn), Harsin (Boise State), and Blake Anderson.

The Tigers have seen a resurgence of their own. After suffering through six consecutive losing seasons (2008-12) as a member of Conference USA, the switch to the American with Justin Fuente at the helm produced a 19-7 mark over the past two seasons with an appearance in the Miami Beach Bowl and the Birmingham Bowl. In the offseason, Mike Norvell took over as the new head coach for the Tigers replacing Fuente who left to become the new head coach at Virginia Tech replacing a retiring Frank Beamer. Norvell came to Memphis from Arizona State after serving as offensive coordinator from 2012-2015. Norvell has Arkansas ties having played at University of Central Arkansas (2001-05) setting the school’s all-time reception mark.

The all-time series speaks of a different rivalry with the Tigers lead slipping to a 29-23-5 mark with the first game reportedly being played in 1914 making the announced four-game series between the two schools that are an hour apart a very intriguing regional announcement.

Photo credit: nwaonline.com; Blake Anderson instructs the Red Wolves during a practice.