# 2017 Central Arkansas Bears football team

The 2017 Central Arkansas Bears football team represented the University of Central Arkansas in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by fourth-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 10–2, 9–0 in Southland play to be crowned Southland Conference champions. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to New Hampshire in the Second Round.
On December 7, head coach Steve Campbell resigned to become the head coach at South Alabama. He finished at Central Arkansas with a four-year record of 33–15.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:10 p.m. | at No. 20 (FBS) Kansas State* | No. 15 | Bill Snyder Family Football StadiumManhattan, KS | ESPN3 | L 19–55 | 51,043 |
| September 9 | 6:00 p.m. | at Murray State* | No. 15 | Roy Stewart StadiumMurray, KY | OVCDN | W 41–13 | 7,456 |
| September 16 | 7:15 p.m. | Southeastern Louisiana | No. 14 | Estes StadiumConway, AR | ELVN | W 38–6 | 10,237 |
| September 30 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 3 Sam Houston State | No. 11 | Estes StadiumConway, AR | ESPN3 | W 41–30 | 11,347 |
| October 7 | 6:00 p.m. | at Houston Baptist | No. 6 | Husky StadiumHouston, TX | FSSW+ | W 27–7 | 2,543 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Stephen F. Austin | No. 6 | Estes StadiumConway, AR | ESPN3 | W 24–20 | 9,263 |
| October 21 | 6:00 p.m. | at Northwestern State | No. 6 | Harry Turpin StadiumNatchitoches, LA | DemonTV | W 45–17 | 8,252 |
| October 28 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 20 McNeese State | No. 4 | Estes StadiumConway, AR (Red Beans and Rice Bowl) | ESPN3 | W 47–17 | 9,887 |
| November 4 | 6:10 p.m. | at Lamar | No. 4 | Provost Umphrey StadiumBeaumont, TX | ESPN3 | W 42–14 | 8,417 |
| November 11 | 6:00 p.m. | at Incarnate Word | No. 3 | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | UIWtv | W 56–10 | 4,652 |
| November 18 | 3:00 p.m. | Abilene Christian | No. 3 | Estes StadiumConway, AR | ESPN3 | W 34–0 | 4,325 |
| December 2 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 21 New Hampshire* | No. 3 | Estes StadiumConway, AR (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 15–21 | 6,243 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Bears | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| • No. 20 (FBS) Wildcats | 10 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 55 |

### At Murray State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 15 Bears | 10 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 41 |
| Racers | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |

### Southeastern Louisiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| • No. 14 Bears | 7 | 7 | 21 | 3 | 38 |

### Sam Houston State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Bearkats | 7 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 30 |
| • No. 11 Bears | 14 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 41 |

### At Houston Baptist

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 6 Bears | 14 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| Huskies | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| • No. 6 Bears | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

### At Northwestern State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 6 Bears | 10 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| Demons | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### McNeese State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Cowboys | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| • No. 4 Bears | 9 | 21 | 14 | 3 | 47 |

### At Lamar

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 4 Bears | 14 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 42 |
| Cardinals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### At Incarnate Word

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 3 Bears | 14 | 28 | 0 | 14 | 56 |
| Cardinals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

### Abilene Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 3 Bears | 14 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 34 |

## FCS Playoffs
### New Hampshire–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 21 Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| No. 3 Bears | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | 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 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Coaches | 15 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 |