In over a century of playing football, the Central Arkansas Bears have made an impressive rise through the college football ranks. As an FCS program, it’s still possible for fans to find cheap Central Arkansas football tickets with ease. But that shouldn’t take away from all that the Bears have accomplished, working their way from NAIA powerhouse to an FCS program that’s on the rise. Given the team’s success in recent years, the Bears are here to stay, and the demand for last-minute Central Arkansas football tickets is only going to grow in the years to come.

Big Bad Bears

During the 1980s, Central Arkansas was one of the elite football programs at the NAIA level. The Bears were members of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference from 1979 to 1992, winning the conference championship 13 times in 14 seasons during that span. The Bears did most of their damage under head coach Harold Horton, who led the Bears to NAIA national championships in 1984 and 1985. He stepped down after the 1989 season, passing the reins to Mike Isom, who led Central Arkansas to another national title in 1991. In 1993, Isom helped the Bears make the jump to the Division II level, setting forth on a new challenge.

One More Step

Under head coach Clint Conque, Central Arkansas moved up to the FCS level in 2006 and joined the Southland Conference in 2007. It only took the Bears until 2008 to win their first Southland Conference championship. Under Conque, Central Arkansas made its first appearance in the FCS Playoffs in 2011. Since then, the Bears have routinely competed for Southland championships and become regulars in the FCS Playoffs. In 2018, former Central Arkansas quarterback and longtime assistant Nathan Brown took over as head coach. He led the Bears to a Southland title in his second season at the helm and is poised to continue to take his alma mater to new heights.