Tuesday Tailgate: Previewing a decade of non-conference games
While the folks at Bristol Motor Speedway try to get you hyped for a game three years from now, we at Paste BN Sports want to get you thinking about games 10 years from now.
We take a look at five of the best non-conference games scheduled every season between 2014 and 2023, not counting annual rivalry games such as Clemson vs. South Carolina and Florida vs. Florida State. This compilation also ignores games without dates and games featuring Notre Dame. We're of course basing this on the current prestige of the programs involved, because who knows what currently irrelevant teams will be influential a decade from now?
Most of these are home-and-home series, and plenty of hundreds of games remain to be scheduled, but here we go ...
2014
Wisconsin vs. LSU, Aug. 30 (at Houston)
Oklahoma State vs. Florida State, Aug. 30 (at Arlington)
Clemson at Georgia, Aug. 30
Texas vs. UCLA, Sept. 13 (at Arlington)
Virginia Tech at Ohio State, Sept. 20
2015
Alabama vs. Wisconsin, Sept. 5 (at Arlington)
Auburn vs. Louisville, Sept. 5 (at Atlanta)
Stanford at Northwestern, Sept. 5
Ohio State at Virginia Tech, Sept. 7
Nebraska at Miami, Sept. 19
2016
LSU vs. Wisconsin, Sept. 3 (at Lambeau Field)
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee, Sept. 7 (at Bristol Motor Speedway)
Oregon at Nebraska, Sept. 17
Ohio State at Oklahoma, Sept. 17
Northwestern at Stanford, Sept. 24
2017
Maryland at Texas, Sept. 2
Nebraska at Oregon, Sept. 9
Georgia Tech at Ole Miss, Sept. 9
Oklahoma at Ohio State, Sept. 16
Texas at USC, Sept. 16
2018
Arkansas at Michigan, Sept. 1
Texas A&M at Oregon, Sept. 15
LSU at Oklahoma, Sept. 15
USC at Texas, Sept. 15
Boise State at Oklahoma State, Sept. 15
2019
Boise State at Florida State, Sept. 7
Oregon at Texas A&M, Sept. 14
Virginia Tech at Wisconsin, Sept. 14
Oklahoma at LSU, Sept. 21
TCU at Ohio State, Sept. 21
2020
Florida State at Boise State, Sept. 12
Ohio State at Oregon, Sept. 12
Wisconsin at Virginia Tech, Sept. 12
Cincinnati at Nebraska, Sept. 12
Virginia Tech at Michigan, Sept. 19
2021
Texas at Arkansas, Sept. 11
Michigan at Virginia Tech, Sept. 11
Oregon at Ohio State, Sept. 11
Nebraska at Oklahoma, Sept. 18
Oklahoma State at Boise State, Sept. 18
2022
Oklahoma at Nebraska, Sept. 17
Ohio State at Texas, Sept. 17
Penn State at Virginia Tech, Sept. 17
Michigan State at Boise State, Sept. 17
West Virginia at Virginia Tech, Sept. 24
2023
West Virginia at Penn State, Sept. 2
Texas at Ohio State, Sept. 16
Boise State at Michigan State, Sept. 16
Virginia Tech at Penn State, Sept. 16
Northern Illinois at Nebraska, Sept. 16
***
- Missouri got some bad news after the stunning win over Georgia, as quarterback James Franklin will be sidelined three to five weeks with a shoulder injury.
- Oregon State's loss to FCS Eastern Washington in Week 1 took the Beavers off the national radar for a while, but at 5-1 and 3-0 in Pac-12 play, is it time to start taking them seriously as a contender?
Follow Jesse Yomtov on Twitter @JesseYomtov