LSU canceling its home-and-home series with Arizona State earlier this week is symptomatic of a larger problem in college football. And no it’s not “The SEC is scared of the Big 12.” It’s the way non-conference games are scheduled. And this is the perfect time to talk about it.
The days of building out a non-conference schedule years in advance need to end. This game is the perfect example.
Why We Need a New Non-Conference Scheduling Method
Yes, LSU backed out of the home-and-home series. But it’s done it before with Arizona State. This series was scheduled back in 2005. I’m not kidding. Go back and look at Brett McMurphy’s story from On3. The first meeting was supposed to be in Baton Rouge in 2005, but it was moved due to Hurricane Katrina and played in Tempe. Valid reason. But because power conferences set their schedules years in advance, the pair could not reschedule the return game until 2015-16.
In 2016, LSU wanted to play Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. So, the Tigers asked to move the series again, this time to 2029 and 2030.
So, after more than 20 years, the complete series will not be played. The reason this time? The SEC is moving to a nine-game conference schedule. Now, LSU’s 2029 non-conference schedule will be SMU, McNeese and Rice. The only game scheduled for 2030 so far is against Tulane.
Now Arizona State needs another power conference game to meet the Big 12 requirement. In 2029, the Sun Devils will face Northern Arizona and San Diego State. In 2030, the Sun Devils don’t have any non-conference games scheduled.
This is a good time to ask why we’re doing it this way. For years we’ve watched power conferences schedule non-conference games five, six or even seven years in advance. It looks great in a press release. But what kind of teams will SMU and LSU be in 2029? No one has any clue. It could be a great game. It could be complete garbage. I could say the same had LSU and Arizona State kept the games.
We are at a point in college football where non-conference games should be scheduled with some eye on generating great matchups based on recent history and not on name brand. We’re fortunate that Ohio State and Texas are playing each other for the second straight year. Both were playoff teams last year, and it should be an incredible matchup. But that game was scheduled years ago. We could have ended up with something less.
With all the wrangling in Congress about the Protect College Sports Act and the NCAA’s new “Five-for-Five” rule, it’s also time to come up with a system that makes non-conference showdowns a year-to-year proposition. Get all four power leagues in a room and figure out a formula to give us great games each year based on where those teams are now. It will make for better games and give the College Football Playoff committee another valuable metric to use come Selection Sunday. It’ll also be far easier than legislating.
Ok. Now, as you were hating an SEC school for backing out of a game with a Big 12 school. But remember, it’s a symptom of a larger problem we need to solve.
