Why a pair of schools just more than 30 miles apart didn't play regularly never made much sense to University of Central Arkansas Athletic Director Brad Teague.
So in August 2018, with the support of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, UCA and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock established the Governor's I-40 Showdown, a series that mandates annual matchups in mutually sponsored sports between the Bears and Trojans.
In the first two years, it's been mainly UCA -- the Bears won the 2018-19 edition 26.5-16.5 and after a one-year pause due to covid-19, UCA took last year's 23-15. The Bears are up 14-2 this time around -- with all fall sport matchups complete -- but Saturday is the first of the schools' two basketball meetings, and the Trojans will likely have the advantage in both games over the next 10 days.