# 2016 Central Arkansas Bears football team

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.

## Schedule

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

## Game summaries
### Houston Baptist

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Huskies | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| • Bears | 21 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 56 |

### Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bulldogs | 7 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| Bears | 3 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 29 |

### Northwestern State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Demons | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| • Bears | 0 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 24 |

### @ Arkansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bears | 7 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 28 |
| Red Wolves | 16 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 23 |

### @ Abilene Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bears | 9 | 28 | 14 | 7 | 58 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 27 |

### @ McNeese State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #23 Bears | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
| Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Lamar (homecoming)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| • #20 Bears | 0 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 22 |

### @ Southeastern Louisiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #19 Bears | 0 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| Lions | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |

### @ Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #17 Bears | 14 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 34 |
| Lumberjacks | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Nicholls

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| • #13 Bears | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |

### @ Sam Houston State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Bears | 0 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 23 |
| • #1 Bearkats | 17 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 59 |

## FCS Playoffs
### First Round–Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redbirds | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| • #14 Bears | 0 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 31 |

### Second Round–Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #14 Bears | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • #3 Eagles | 0 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 31 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 10 | 9 | 7 | Not released | Not released |