CONWAY, Ark. _ Whenever the University of Central Arkansas Bears meet the Sam Houston State Bearkats on the football field, there is almost always a lot riding on the outcome.

    Saturday's matchup between the No. 10/12 Bears and the No. 21/25 Bearkats will, as it usually does, have both confererence and national implications. SHSU (5-3) is tied for first in the Southland Conference with a 4-1 league record, while UCA (5-2) is a half-game back at 3-1. There are currently four one-loss teams remaining in the SLC with five weeks left in the regular season.

    "This week is going to be a great challenge,' said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "It's a big week, obviously excited about Homecoming, excited about another opportunity to play on "The Stripes," in front of our students, in front of our fans, because there's nothing like it.

    "But the work is not done. I told the guys they've earned the right to be in the position to play in big games. We've earned the right to be in the position that probably 80 percent of the country would love to be in, playing big games. A lot of them are just surviving, and we've got the opportunity to play another Top 25 game, and hopefully come out on the top end of it. We're excited about it.
     
    The Bears have won two consecutive SLC games and are coming off a 31-30 road victory over the Northwestern State Demons last Saturday in Natchitoches, La., their fifth road game in seven this season. The Bearkats shut out Top 10 Nicholls 17-0 last week at home in Huntsville, Texas, after a 20-7 home loss to Lamar the previous week.

    SHSU leads the overall series with the Bears 7-6 after last year's 34-31 overtime victory in Huntsville. However, UCA is 4-2 in games played on "The Stripes" in Conway. The Bears also have a career record of 61-27-1 in homecoming games and have won 15 of their past 16.

    SHSU features the top defensive unit in the SLC and one of the best in the nation. The Bearkats are No. 1 in the conference in scoring defense (16.1 points per game allowed), total defense (308.6 yards per game) and rushing defense (72.9 yards per game), and No. 2 in passing defense (235.8 yards per game).
 

    UCA counters with the fourth-best passing offense (301.7 yards per game) and the sixth-best scoring offense (27.3 points per game).

    "I've been watching them for the last day and a half and I've been in this league a while... probably one of the best defenses I've seen put together in a while,' said Brown. "Very good attacking style defense. A lot of transfers, very good defensive front. They trust their safeties and corners to play man coverage, and they're good at it. So that's going to be a challenge for us on offense this week, but it's one we're going to rise to and we're excited about.'

    A year ago, in a game in which UCA starting quarterback Breylin Smith broke his ankle late in the fourth quarter, the Bears put up 441 yards of offense, with then-junior running back Carlos Blackman rushing for 135 yards and a touchdown. SHSU then-freshman quarterback Ty Brock threw for 307 yards and rushed for 73 more as the Bearkats blocked UCA's field goal attempt in overtime and then got a 34-yarder from Tre Honshtein to win the game.

    Saturday's winner will remain in position to battle for a conference title and possible FCS playoff berth.

    This is a very evenly matched conference right now, from top to bottom' said Brown. "Week in and week out, it doesn't matter who you are playing, you have to play your best. If you don't then you'll be exposed. So we're fortunate right now to be in the back end of our schedule. Five or your first seven on the road, that's tough. That's a tough stretch of football.

    "And to come out of it 5-2 and sitting tied for first in the conference, 10th in the country, that's good work by our men. Our young men are really responding and performing like we expect them to perform.

    "And what's great about the back end of our schedule is, three of our five are at home. And we're 2-0 at home right now. We're the only team in the Southland Conference with a winning record on the road. We're 3-2 and nobody else has a winning record on the road. We can win on the road, we've proven it. So we're handling what we need to handle.'
    
    Kickoff is 6 p.m. with Homecoming festivities set for halftime. Coverage of the game will be on The Bear 91.3, The Point 94.1  and on ESPN+.