Arkansas’ Season Opener vs Florida A&M to be Played Thursday August 31st in Little Rock

The SEC Network announced Wednesday night that Arkansas’ season opener against Florida A&M will actually be played on Thursday night, August 31st instead of the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

Initial reaction on social media seems mixed. Sure, it’s not as easy for a lot of people to take Thursday off in order to tailgate all day or travel to Little Rock. I get that.

But I’m ok with it for a few reasons.

1. It shortens the offseason by two days
2. The Hogs will get some national attention for a game that they should win easily and would otherwise be ignored if it was played on Saturday with so many other more attractive games
3. It will be a night game at War Memorial, and for those of us who aren’t disgusted by the thought of War Memorial, that’s special
4. If anything should happen in the game, it will give the players a couple of extra days to prep for TCU, obviously a huge game

So there you go. I understand why some won’t like it. I think the tailgating overall will be fine. It’s the season opener. Fans will be hungry for it. It probably won’t be quite like it would be if it was on Saturday, but it also might not be a night game if it’s on Saturday.

And now August is GAME MONTH!