Arkansas State and Northern Illinois are facing off in Saturday’s Camellia Bowl, a game which is owned, operated and broadcast by ESPN.
However, in the lead-in prior to the game, ESPN made a regrettable error to promote the game at the end of a SportsCenter episode.
Viewers noticed that ESPN used Arkansas’s logo instead of Arkansas State’s alongside the icon for Northern Illinois—a tough mistake that made it seem like the SEC’s Razorbacks were playing in the game. Although both schools use red as a primary color, Arkansas State has a Red Wolf as its mascot, as opposed to Arkansas’s famous Hogs.
Here are the two logos (Arkansas & Arkansas State) side-by-side via @KARK4News https://t.co/ZDYItLujCk pic.twitter.com/01xanCwsdL
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 23, 2023
The mistake also gave Arkansas too much credit, as the Razorbacks didn’t become eligible for a bowl after a disappointing 4-8 regular season.
Fans and pundits on social media immediately realized ESPN’s mistake, and they roasted the network for its blunder.
Oh no. pic.twitter.com/JlAHy9XOAy
— Alyssa Orange (@AlyssaOrange) December 23, 2023
Arkansas State fans seeing this: pic.twitter.com/jEcbBw5MTv https://t.co/Bv76mT4WXk
— pinto (@pinto479) December 23, 2023
Big game for the Hogs today in the Camellia Bowl.
— Will Whitson (@will_whitson2) December 23, 2023
Most thought Arkansas didn’t make a bowl game, but they thought wrong. pic.twitter.com/p062IGW3je
They couldn't find the Arkansas St logo and they knew that Arkansas didn't need it for the rest of the college football season
— K B (@imdarealKB) December 23, 2023
That’s the closest Arkansas will get to a bowl game.
— Red Wolf Ron (@redwolfron) December 23, 2023
Surely they just had the Arkansas logo ready to go for its bowl later… surely
— Sam Scott (@sam_scott___) December 23, 2023
https://t.co/HuH2mcaonz pic.twitter.com/ih9jbEmgbq
— Bunkie Perkins (@BunkiePerkins) December 23, 2023
This is Arkansas State’s first bowl game since 2019, so being in the game is a step in the right direction for Red Wolves under coach Butch Jones. Unfortunately, ESPN apparently didn’t get the memo.
