The Central Arkansas Bears were formed in 1901 by William Hawkins. Although they finished 1–4–3 in their first season, and have an unusual record of 23–54–22 in its first 20 years of existence, the Bears would play for 7 championships in that span. UCA would enjoy its greatest success over a 14-year period from 1979 to 1992, when the Bears won or shared 13 of the 14 conference championships, as members of the
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC). The AIC included in-state schools such as
Arkansas Tech,
Harding University,
Henderson State University,
Ouachita Baptist University,
Southern Arkansas University,
University of Arkansas at Monticello, and
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. During that time frame, UCA won or shared twelve consecutive AIC titles from 1981 to 1992, as well as three NAIA national championships, in 1984, 1985, and 1991. The Bears were consistently present in the NAIA Top 20, and made the playoffs 12 out of 14 seasons. In 1993, the Bears left the AIC and the NAIA, and moved up in competition to
NCAA Division II joining the
Gulf South Conference. Central Arkansas would stay in the West Division of the GSC through the 2006 season, winning the GSC title in 2005. Central Arkansas would move up yet again in 2007, joining the
Southland Conference and
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS. The Bears would win four Southland championships in 2008, 2012, 2017 and 2019. Central Arkansas would make the playoffs in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019 (where they earned their first national seed in the playoffs at No. 8) winning their first FCS playoff game in 2011 over
Tennessee Tech. The Bears also defeated
Illinois State in 2016 before losing the next round at
Eastern Washington. In 2021, UCA accepted an invitation to join the
ASUN Conference, ending their membership with the Southland on June 30, 2021. The first year of ASUN conference football was a partnership between the ASUN and the revived
football league of the
Western Athletic Conference (WAC), called the ASUN–WAC Challenge. After the ASUN's first year, more new members joined, and a full slate of ASUN-only conference games was scheduled in 2022, although further conference realignment led to the ASUN and WAC renewing their alliance for that season. The alliance received an NCAA waiver that gave it an automatic berth in the FCS playoffs. The two conferences fully merged their football leagues after the 2022 season and became the
United Athletic Conference (UAC), beginning in 2023. ==Notable former players==