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An eight-game season excluding all non-conference opponents would be plenty entertaining within the SEC.
But conference rivalries add a compelling element to college football that is difficult to replicate in any other sport.
With that in mind, we decided to pick out 10 SEC non-conference games that we’re excited to watch in the next five years. We gave preference to games in the next year or two because we know more about those matchups and teams.
Here are our favorites:
10. Auburn vs. Oregon (’19): This rematch of the 2010 season national championship game also features an Under Armour vs. Nike undertone. It’s too far away to know if these teams will be any good, but it’s got potential.
9. Georgia vs. Notre Dame (’17/’19): The Kirby Smart/Jacob Eason combination should be in full force by the time these two brand names meet next fall. Georgia finally will get the shot at Notre Dame that it failed to earn (barely) during the 2012 SEC Championship Game.
8. Texas A&M vs. UCLA (Sept. 3): It’s unclear whether either of these programs will be bona fide contenders in 2016. But there are storylines galore in this one. Texas A&M’s new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone came to College Station after holding the same position for the Bruins. This will be Trevor Knight’s debut as the Aggies quarterback. And UCLA has an outstanding sophomore quarterback of its own in Josh Rosen.
7. Arkansas vs. TCU (’16/’17): The Razorbacks have been very good — sometimes even excellent — near the end of the last two seasons. The starts have been rough. Bret Bielema and the Hogs could finally punch into the national conversation with an early-season win against a TCU team that’s done very well the last two years.
6. LSU vs. Texas (’19/’20): The SEC vs. Big 12 games are always a good time, especially when a fan base as prideful as the Longhorns is involved. Who knows if the Longhorn Network will remain in existence when these games are played, and what the revenue gap between the two leagues may be by this time? An LSU sweep here could be a big blow to Big 12 morale.
5. Ole Miss vs. Florida State (Sept. 5): The Seminoles took a half-step back last year in the wake of Jameis Winston. But both these teams hope to contend for conference titles in 2016. If the pollsters get it right, this should be an opening-week matchup between top 15 teams. A strong performance and a win here could launch Chad Kelly’s Heisman Trophy campaign. Plus, it gives us SEC football on a Monday.
4. Alabama vs. USC (Sept. 3): The Crimson Tide’s run of four national titles in seven seasons is plenty special. But there’s something alluring about watching Nick Saban try to tie Bear Bryant’s all-time record of six national titles as a college coach. OK, fine, we also think Lane Kiffin scheming against the program that canned him in 2013 should be entertaining.
3. Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech (Sept. 10): This game should set an all-time attendance record for college football, as the teams are staging this one at Bristol Motor Speedway. The latest example of one-upsmanship should be a spectacle. And if the Vols handle business, Tennessee will have officially declared itself a true national contender for the ’16 season.
2. Florida vs. Michigan (2017): The words Jim Harbaugh require no explanation after the happenings of the last 12 months. He and Jim McElwain were the two biggest names of the coaching cycle after the 2014 season. This will be the third year for both coaches, and the Gators want revenge for the Citrus Bowl shellacking the Wolverines handed them on New Year’s Day.
1. Alabama vs. Florida State (2017): The ’13 and ’15 national champions have played just four times. Considering the prestige of both programs, that’s difficult to believe — but the Bear Bryant and Bobby Bowden eras didn’t overlap long, and the two coaches never met at these respective programs. Florida State actually beat Nick Saban during his first season in Tuscaloosa in 2007, winning the “River City Showdown” 21-14 in Jacksonville. But FSU later vacated the game as an NCAA punishment.
OUTSIDE THE SEC
- Oklahoma vs. Ohio State (’16/’17): This could be one of the premier games of the entire 2016 season. The Sooners made the College Football Playoff last season. The Buckeyes are losing as much talent to the NFL as any team, as nine underclassmen declared for the draft. Both quarterbacks, Baker Mayfield and J.T. Barrett, will enter the season as Heisman Trophy candidates.
- Nebraska vs. Oregon (’17): Most would agree that the Ducks have overtaken the Cornhuskers in terms of prestige and on-field results. Nebraska coach Mike Riley even came to Lincoln from Oregon State. Can he get that program back into the national conversation by taking down Oregon?
- USC vs. Texas (’17/’18): Will Charlie Strong be coaching this game? Or will new blood (Tom Herman?) get indoctrinated into Longhorns football with a big-time national matchup against Pac-12 powerhouse USC?
- Ohio State vs. TCU (’18/’19): If Urban Meyer and Gary Patterson remain the head coaches at these respective schools, this should be a terrific chess match. Thanks to TCU’s offensive change in ’14, it could be high-scoring as well.
- Clemson vs. Notre Dame (’20): Coach Dabo Swinney should still be coaching the Tigers, unless he becomes Nick Saban’s replacement at Alabama. Could this be an ACC vs. ACC game by 2020?
- Notre Dame vs. Stanford (every year): These two old rivals, known as academic schools, have been good and occasionally excellent in recent years. In any given season, this game holds real College Football Playoff implications.
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.
