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Fourteen SEC teams combine to play 15 power-conference foes next season, including seven juicy first-week matchups.
Sounds good, right?
Thanks to a rule forcing every SEC program to schedule at least one power-conference opponent starting in ’16 (including independents Notre Dame, BYU and Army), that’s a heavier non-conference schedule than the SEC ever has faced.
Here’s a look at the non-conference matchups against teams from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 in 2016 followed by each team’s power-conference opponents scheduled in the future.
LSU’s schedule-maker may go Rip Van Winkle on us, as the Tigers have scheduled 11 future games with power-conference opponents beyond 2016. Alabama needs to get to work, as the Tide have just two future games with FBS opponents (Florida State in ’17 and Louisville in ’18).
Who else is looking forward to LSU vs. Oklahoma in 2028? Be sure your calendars are marked.
Teams like Clemson, Georgia Tech and BYU are going to be common non-conference foes for SEC programs in the near-to-intermediate future.
Here’s a look at all the 2016 non-conference games against power-conference opponents as well as all such games contracted for the future by SEC program:
2016
Sept. 3: Alabama vs. USC (in Arlington, Texas)
Sept. 3: Auburn vs. Clemson
Sept. 3: Georgia vs. North Carolina (in Atlanta)
Sept. 3: LSU vs. Wisconsin (in Green Bay, Wisc.)
Sept. 3: Missouri at West Virginia
Sept. 3: Texas A&M vs. UCLA
Sept. 5: Ole Miss vs. Florida State (in Orlando)
Sept. 10: Arkansas at TCU
Sept. 10: Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech (in Bristol, Tenn.)
Sept. 17: Vanderbilt at Georgia Tech
Oct. 14: Mississippi State at BYU
Nov. 26: Florida at Florida State
Nov. 26: Georgia vs. Georgia Tech
Nov. 26: Kentucky at Louisville
Nov. 26: South Carolina at Clemson
Alabama
2017: vs. Florida State
2018: vs. Louisville
Arkansas
2017: vs. TCU
2018-19: vs. Michigan
2021: vs. Texas
Auburn
2017: vs. Clemson
2019: vs. Oregon
2020-21: vs. Cal
Florida
Annually: vs. Florida State (currently through 2020)
2017: vs. Michigan
2019: vs. Miami
Georgia
Annually: vs. Georgia Tech (currently through 2026)
2017/2019: vs. Notre Dame
2025-26: vs. UCLA
Kentucky
Annually: vs. Louisville (currently through 2019)
LSU
2017: vs. BYU
2017: vs. Syracuse
2018: vs. Miami
2019-20: vs. Texas
2021/2024: vs. UCLA
2022-23: vs. Arizona State
2027-28: vs. Oklahoma
Mississippi State
2017: vs. BYU
2018-19: vs. Kansas State
2020-21: vs. N.C. State
2022-23: vs. Arizona
Missouri
2017-18: vs. Purdue
2019: vs. West Virginia
2020: vs. BYU
Ole Miss
2017/2019: vs. Cal
2020: vs. Baylor
2022-23: vs. Georgia Tech
2024-25: vs. Wake Forest
South Carolina
Annually: vs. Clemson (currently through 2024)
2017: vs. N.C. State
2019/2023: vs. North Carolina
Tennessee
2017: vs. Georgia Tech
2018: vs. West Virginia
2021-22: vs. Pittsburgh
2026-27: vs. Nebraska
TBA/TBA: vs. UConn
Texas A&M
2017: vs. UCLA
2018-19: vs. Clemson
2020-21: vs. Colorado
2024-25: vs. Notre Dame
Vanderbilt
2017/2020: vs. Kansas State
2019/2029: vs. Purdue
2021/2024/2025/2027: vs. Stanford
2022-23: vs. Wake Forest
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.