The Colorado State Rams announced Wednesday that they will play the University of Arkansas on Sept. 18, 2018 in Fort Collins. It will be the first time that an SEC school has traveled to CSU since 1981, when Mississippi State came to town.

“This is exciting for our football program and for our fans,” said head coach Mike Bobo via a press release. “Being able to bring an SEC opponent to Fort Collins speaks to the growth of our program and also speaks to the impact our new on-campus stadium is already making. We want to challenge ourselves in our non-conference schedule and also bring those quality opponents to our home field and our fans.”

For the second year in a row, the Rams will face a trio of Power-5 opponents. The 2017 non-conference slate features matchups with Colorado, Alabama and Oregon State. In 2018, CSU’s first three games are against Colorado, Arkansas and Florida.

The Rams won’t just see the Razorbacks once, though, as the two schools will face each other in Fayetteville during the 2019 campaign. The schools will meet on the hardwood as well over the next two seasons.

“Arkansas is a wonderful addition to our home schedule in 2018 and reinforces our trend of securing high-profile non-conference opponents,” said athletics director Joe Parker via the same press release. “We are thrilled to have the Razorbacks in Fort Collins as we transition an originally agreed-upon guarantee game into a home-and-home series.”

The schools have met three times on the gridiron, with the Razorbacks winning all three contests, the last being in 1990. With the addition of Arkansas to the non-conference schedule, the Rams now have 15 games scheduled against Power-5 teams between 2018-2028.

CSU begins spring practice March 21.