ARKADELPHIA – The 19th-ranked Ouachita Baptist University football team opens the 2024 season on Thursday, September 5 at home against Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Thursday's kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia. General admission tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the stadium starting at 5 p.m. Tickets purchased online can be picked up at the will call window.

The game can be heard on the Ouachita Football Radio Network originating at KARN-FM 102.9 in Little Rock and available on 10 different stations throughout the state of Arkansas. A list of stations can be found at www.OBUtigers.com/broadcast. The Ouachita Sports Digital Network will also broadcast the game live on YouTube for free. Links to broadcasts and live stats can be found at www.OBUtigers.com/coverage.

The Tigers enter the season ranked No. 19 in the American Football Coaches Association Preseason Top 25 Poll and No. 17 in the latest D2Football.com Top 25. Ouachita posted a 9-2 record in 2023, which was the program's 15th consecutive winning season and sixth straight season with at least nine wins.

55 lettermen return from last year's squad, highlighted by 11 returning All-Great American Conference honorees.

The Ouachita-SWOSU game was dubbed the Paul Sharp Cup in 2013, honoring the late coach who led the Bulldogs to the NAIA national championship in 1996. Sharp, brother of current Ouachita Athletic Director David Sharp, played football and graduated from Ouachita, and was an assistant coach for the Tigers from 1974-78. He also spent time as an assistant coach at Central Arkansas and Lamar, and served the bulk of his coaching career as the head coach at SWOSU from 1986-2004. He passed away in 2012. Since the inception of the trophy game, the Tigers are 9-1 against the Bulldogs with the only loss coming in Weatherford in 2015.

Ouachita is 15-4 all-time against SWOSU and has won seven straight over the Bulldogs, including last season's 38-14 victory in Weatherford in the 2023 opener.

The Tigers have won 16 straight season openers and 16 straight home openers. Thursday's game is one of five home games for the Tigers in 2024.

SWOSU was the only winless team in the GAC last season at 0-11. The Bulldogs were picked No. 11 in the GAC preseason coaches' poll. Ouachita came in at No. 2 and also earned one first place vote.