2016 Central Arkansas Bears football team

2016 Southland Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Sam Houston State $^		9	–	0					12	–	1
No. 14 Central Arkansas ^		8	–	1					10	–	3
SE Louisiana		7	–	2					7	–	4
McNeese State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Nicholls State		5	–	4					5	–	6
Stephen F. Austin		4	–	5					5	–	6
Houston Baptist		3	–	5					4	–	7
Incarnate Word *		3	–	6					3	–	8
Lamar		3	–	6					3	–	8
Abilene Christian *		2	–	7					2	–	9
Northwestern State		0	–	9					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS poll

The 2016 Central Arkansas Bears football team represented the University of Central Arkansas in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by third-year head coach Steve Campbell and played their home games at Estes Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 8–1 in Southland play to finish in second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Illinois State in the first round, before losing in the second round to Eastern Washington.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 pm	Houston Baptist		Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ASN	W 56–13	9,757
September 10	6:00 pm	Samford*		Estes Stadium Conway, AR	BNN	L 29–35	9,987
September 17	6:00 pm	Northwestern State		Estes Stadium Conway, AR	BNN	W 24–10	8,047
September 24	6:00 pm	at Arkansas State*		Centennial Bank Stadium Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	W 28–23	28,012
October 1	2:30 pm	at Abilene Christian		Shotwell Stadium Abilene, TX	SLDN	W 58–27	4,215
October 15	6:00 pm	at McNeese State	No. 23	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (Red Beans and Rice Bowl)	ESPN3	W 35–0	9,253
October 22	6:00 pm	Lamar	No. 20	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN3	W 22–12	10,257
October 29	7:00 pm	at Southeastern Louisiana	No. 19	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	ESPN3	W 45–10	4,241
November 5	3:00 pm	at Stephen F. Austin	No. 17	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	ASN	W 34–14	10,188
November 12	3:00 pm	Nicholls State	No. 13	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ASN	W 31–24	5,785
November 19	2:30 pm	at No. 1 Sam Houston State	No. 11	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	L 23–59	9,182
November 26	2:00 pm	Illinois State*	No. 14	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 31–24	3,165
December 3	3:00 pm	at No. 3 Eastern Washington*	No. 14	Roos Field Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 14–31	6,085
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Houston Baptist at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 0 3 3 7 13 • Bears 21 21 14 0 56 Date: September 1 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:22 Game attendance: 9,757 Referee: Ross Smith TV announcers (ASN): Lincoln Rose, Shea Walker, Kamady Rudd Sources:

---

Samford at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • Bulldogs 7 21 7 0 35 Bears 3 7 0 19 29 Date: September 10 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:25 Game attendance: 9,987 Referee: Michael VanderVelde Television network: BNN Sources:

---

Northwestern State at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Demons 0 7 0 3 10 • Bears 0 14 10 0 24 Date: September 17 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 8,047 Referee: Stephen Baron Television network: BNN Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at Arkansas State

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 7 6 3 12 28 Red Wolves 16 0 7 0 23 Date: September 24 Location: Centennial Bank Stadium Jonesboro, AR Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:33 Game attendance: 28,012 Game weather: 91 °F (33 °C) • Wind NE 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h) • Mostly sunny Referee: Jeff Hilyer Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 9 28 14 7 58 Wildcats 7 6 7 7 27 Date: October 1 Location: Shotwell Stadium Abilene, TX Game start: 2:30 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:27 Game attendance: 4,215 Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C) • Wind SSE 8 mph (13 km/h) • Sunny Referee: Vidal Jones Television network: ASN Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total • #23 Bears 7 7 14 7 35 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 15 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:06 Game attendance: 9,253 Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C) • Wind SSE 8 mph (13 km/h) • Partly cloudy, 62% humidity Referee: Cooper Castleberry Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Lamar at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 3 3 0 6 12 • #20 Bears 0 10 9 3 22 Date: October 22 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:18 Game attendance: 10,257 Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C) • Wind SSW 5 mph (8.0 km/h) • Sunny Referee: Brad Van Vark Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at Southeastern Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total • #19 Bears 0 24 14 7 45 Lions 0 3 7 0 10 Date: October 29 Location: Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA Game start: 7:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:08 Game attendance: 4,241 Game weather: 86 °F (30 °C) • Wind ENE 3 mph (4.8 km/h) • Clear Referee: Ross Smith Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin

1 2 3 4 Total • #17 Bears 14 10 0 10 34 Lumberjacks 7 7 0 0 14 Date: November 5 Location: Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX Game start: 3:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:23 Game attendance: 10,188 Game weather: About 60 °F (16 °C) • Cloudy Referee: Michael VanderVelde Television network: ASN Sources:

---

Nicholls at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Colonels 0 7 7 10 24 • #13 Bears 0 10 7 14 31 Date: November 12 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 3:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:41 Game attendance: 5,785 Referee: Cooper Castleberry Television network: ASN Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total #11 Bears 0 10 6 7 23 • #1 Bearkats 17 21 14 7 59 Date: November 19 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 2:30 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:42 Game attendance: 9,182 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C) • Wind N 7 mph (11 km/h) • Sunny and clear Referee: Brad Van Vark Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Illinois State at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Redbirds 10 7 0 7 24 • #14 Bears 0 7 0 24 31 Date: November 26 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 2:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:10 Game attendance: 3,165 Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C) • Wind SW 3 mph (4.8 km/h) • Overcast Referee: J. Crowley Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Central Arkansas at Eastern Washington

1 2 3 4 Total #14 Bears 0 14 0 0 14 • #3 Eagles 0 21 3 7 31 Date: December 3 Location: Roos Field Cheney, WA Game start: 2:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:31 Game attendance: 6,085 Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C) • Wind SW 16 mph (26 km/h) • Cloudy Referee: Drew Myers Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

---

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	23	20	19	17	13	11	14	14
Coaches	—	RV	—	—	RV	24	22	18–T	18	17	13	12	16	16
FCS Playoffs	Not released									10	9	7	Not released