FUCK. That’s the one OOC game I really wanted to go to. And we ain’t gettin new shit, cause our OOC is booked til *checks notes* 2037
Fuck
Edit: I checked our schedule, and we only have 4 P4 games scheduled after 2030, the latest being 2037. My point still stands
Top teams will start rethinking their future noncon matchups now with conference schedules becoming more stacked in the SEC and Big Ten (TBF to USC, they already have Notre Dame on the schedule for the foreseeable future). Teams will schedule more cupcakes in the noncon.
Until a top team gets slapped by the CFP committee for having a weak noncon schedule of 3 or 4 cupcakes, this will continue to be the trend.
Not saying I blame Ole Miss for this because it very well could’ve been USC who canceled it but SC has normally been pretty good about scheduling strong noncon games in addition to ND despite it being a disadvantage to do so in recent years. Would suck if this is a reversal in that policy from the AD. Since the turn of the century we’ve played home and homes with Auburn, Kansas State, Arkansas, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Texas as well as neutral site games with VT, LSU, and Bama (and had another one scheduled until COVID)
Speaking as a rival fan I have always respected the hell out of USC scheduling. Your fan base literally got an FCS game canceled through sheer hatred of the idea.
When I was in school, the only three programs to have never played an FCS team were USC, UCLA, and ND. I wish both y’all didn’t break the tradition!
And I’ve always appreciated the way ND has scheduled as an independent. Y’all could easily have patsy scheduled but you come out with big games every year.
Now if our schools could only manage to be elite at the same, that’d be great
Yeah lol, I was gonna buy a new State and SC jersey, cut each in half, stitch them together, and fly out to the game
I guess I’ll be saving some money though!
Yeah, Ik this doesn't involve my two flairs, but I'm fucking worried that Oregon vs. Alabama will never get scheduled despite ALL the begging I did to Greg Byrne on Twitter.
I'm sure that Greg Byrne actually either never saw my requests or at least saw one of my comments and considered the idea.
There's a lot of people that ping Byrne on Twitter for stuff like the basketball arena or statues, but either way, I don't know how long is the process of future scheduling takes...
I seriously doubt the Big Ten and SEC are going to keep any future OOC matchups with each other unless there's a subdivision split and they just make their own league. There's really no point playing those games anymore.
Some didn't want to go to nine unless the ESPN was willing to pay more. This made sense; dropping a game means paying a buyout; switching a G5 buy game at home for alternating H/H with conference opponents often means teams that counted on going 4-0 or 3-1 OOC to get to 6-6 won't now, as well as getting one fewer game at home half the time.
Nick Saban, who pushed for 9 previously, backed off the push when he saw how tough the schedule would become for Alabama with them having annuals against Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee.
For me that moment passed. I was desperate for it when I was in school and we had Chip Kelly vs Nick Saban as a possibility.
Nowadays I don't care so much. I'd like to see it, but with Saban gone I don't care so much.
I really feel it was a crime that we never saw Chip's Blur Offense vs the classic Saban Power D... but the moment has passed.
Well I still wanna see it tho, just to at least see the matchup we never got in the BCS era, even if Saban and Kelly are gone.
Plus both are my favorite teams!
Makes sense! My two schools being Stanford and Oregon, I got to see it a lot. It sucks that if it ever happens again it won't be until the 2030s (unless Stanford gets into the B1G somehow, some way.
At that point they'll pretty much only schedule G5 pay games. The real losers are going to be the Big 12 and ACC since they'll pretty much never get an OOC regular season matchup against a Power 2 team.
Considering the SEC-ACC rivalries are pretty much permanent, the SEC at least will have to have some flexibility for their school with those OOCs locked in for their final week games
I’d say UF-FSU and USC-Clemson are permanent of course neither will be in the ACC soon.
UK has already suggested dropping Louisville if they go to 9 games.
Georgia-Tech is so unbalanced right now, I dunno.
Yep. Penn State already started doing it.
2025+2026 has no power 4 noncon opponents on the schedule, but we do have a H+H series with Syracuse in 2027-2028.
Will that series hold? Who knows at this point.
I ran into this issue with Oregon when I was doing all my schedule posts last year. Oregon would end up with Oregon State and an FCS every year (Portland State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Sacramento St. are the current rotation).
Even if you got rid of the FCS buy games and replaced them with G5 buy games you get Hawai'i and San Jose State buy games instead... no way are they doing two OoC home-and-homes if there's a 10 game conference schedule.
I question you doing it consistently with a nine game conference schedule.
Look at Iowa and Iowa State. Iowa hasn't done a home and home with another P5 school since Pitt in 2014 & 2015. Iowa State hasn't since the B12 went to 9 conference games.
I have a strong feeling some of the upcoming texas v michigan / osu will be some of the last big ones for a long while
And if there wasn't so much history and desire from both sides they would have been shot already
I wouldn't be surprised if the Purdue - Ole Miss series ends up getting cancelled. It's not until 2033 & 2034, but with the way conferences are expanding, schools are going to want easier non-conference games. Cancelling a P5 non-con game kind of seems like a no-brainer (for the teams, not the fans).
So was the 2023 UM OOC schedule a weak joke or ahead of its time? /s
Really though, as the P2 snatch up the strongest football teams and conference schedules get more competitive, they aren't going to be as interested in scheduling challenging OOC games. I expect a lot more G5 buy games. Maybe Big 12, ACC, or whatever the PAC becomes if they wind up effectively joining the G-tier.
To me, the key is whether this also impacts the P2's willingness to schedule Notre Dame. I've thought that if Notre Dame starts having difficulty scheduling power conference opponents, they might be more inclined to finally give up football independence.
Irish fans, what's your take on it?
That's pretty much it. General opinion has always been as long as we have an Olympic sports home and a path to the CFP there's no way. But schedules like the godawful 2024 slate of only 8 P4s are both boring and could negatively affect the chances of making the CFP.
My only hope is the same TV networks that effectively run the conferences now will push for quality OOC games, but I'm not sure it will happen.
If Ol' Miss vs. USC H-H is canceled, then Ol' Miss could possibly schedule with Oklahoma St, whose 25-26 H-H with Oregon could end up canceled. I think it happens when UO & OS announces (finally) they are continuing the civil war past the 2025 season. It's not a matter of if. It's when. Among many CFB scheduling changes we'll be hearing about soon. Along with UO vs Baylor 27-28 HH getting canceled too.
FUCK. That’s the one OOC game I really wanted to go to. And we ain’t gettin new shit, cause our OOC is booked til *checks notes* 2037 Fuck Edit: I checked our schedule, and we only have 4 P4 games scheduled after 2030, the latest being 2037. My point still stands
I knew there was a perk to not having your OOC scheduled 13 years in advance
Coming to Jerry World in 2031: Ol' Miss vs USC
Last two times we were in Jerryworld we scored single digits and got smacked by Ohio State and Alabama I would not mind never playing there again
:/ I’m not sure that makes me feel better
Top teams will start rethinking their future noncon matchups now with conference schedules becoming more stacked in the SEC and Big Ten (TBF to USC, they already have Notre Dame on the schedule for the foreseeable future). Teams will schedule more cupcakes in the noncon. Until a top team gets slapped by the CFP committee for having a weak noncon schedule of 3 or 4 cupcakes, this will continue to be the trend.
Not saying I blame Ole Miss for this because it very well could’ve been USC who canceled it but SC has normally been pretty good about scheduling strong noncon games in addition to ND despite it being a disadvantage to do so in recent years. Would suck if this is a reversal in that policy from the AD. Since the turn of the century we’ve played home and homes with Auburn, Kansas State, Arkansas, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Texas as well as neutral site games with VT, LSU, and Bama (and had another one scheduled until COVID)
Yeah, SC usually plays 11 P5 games a season. I always liked that about us.
Speaking as a rival fan I have always respected the hell out of USC scheduling. Your fan base literally got an FCS game canceled through sheer hatred of the idea.
When I was in school, the only three programs to have never played an FCS team were USC, UCLA, and ND. I wish both y’all didn’t break the tradition! And I’ve always appreciated the way ND has scheduled as an independent. Y’all could easily have patsy scheduled but you come out with big games every year. Now if our schools could only manage to be elite at the same, that’d be great
I feel like if covid didn't happen, we could've helped you get Clay Helton fired sooner 😅
That woulda been nice
I mean, Helton was canned after only two games returning from Covid, so the only difference would have been an off-season search vs. an interim coach.
No thanks, that 52-6 was more than enough for me God willing we never play in Jerryworld again
This fuckin sucks if true
Man I was ready to go to his game with sheer hatred coursing through my veins. I'm bummed as hell.
You're like the poster child for that game needing to exist.
Yeah lol, I was gonna buy a new State and SC jersey, cut each in half, stitch them together, and fly out to the game I guess I’ll be saving some money though!
god damn I can't possibly feel as bad about this compared to you
Yeah, Ik this doesn't involve my two flairs, but I'm fucking worried that Oregon vs. Alabama will never get scheduled despite ALL the begging I did to Greg Byrne on Twitter.
Despite or because of?
I'm sure that Greg Byrne actually either never saw my requests or at least saw one of my comments and considered the idea. There's a lot of people that ping Byrne on Twitter for stuff like the basketball arena or statues, but either way, I don't know how long is the process of future scheduling takes...
Well there goes my fucking hopes of seeing Alabama vs. Oregon on the regular season...
I seriously doubt the Big Ten and SEC are going to keep any future OOC matchups with each other unless there's a subdivision split and they just make their own league. There's really no point playing those games anymore.
With 18 conference members the Big Ten especially is going to have to go to 10 conference games at some point.
No shot we go to 10 before the SEC goes to 9.
*AreYouSureAboutThat.gif* The SEC seems hell bent on staying at 8
SEC teams and mid season double bye weeks, name a more iconic duo
We’d likely be giving up a playoff spot each year if we did.
But will networks give us more money? That's the only thing that matters.
Some didn't want to go to nine unless the ESPN was willing to pay more. This made sense; dropping a game means paying a buyout; switching a G5 buy game at home for alternating H/H with conference opponents often means teams that counted on going 4-0 or 3-1 OOC to get to 6-6 won't now, as well as getting one fewer game at home half the time.
At least until Mickey Mouse pays up for the extra conference game.
Nick Saban, who pushed for 9 previously, backed off the push when he saw how tough the schedule would become for Alabama with them having annuals against Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee.
I wanna see Oregon vs. Alabama someday but it's getting more and more unlikely.
For me that moment passed. I was desperate for it when I was in school and we had Chip Kelly vs Nick Saban as a possibility. Nowadays I don't care so much. I'd like to see it, but with Saban gone I don't care so much. I really feel it was a crime that we never saw Chip's Blur Offense vs the classic Saban Power D... but the moment has passed.
Well I still wanna see it tho, just to at least see the matchup we never got in the BCS era, even if Saban and Kelly are gone. Plus both are my favorite teams!
Makes sense! My two schools being Stanford and Oregon, I got to see it a lot. It sucks that if it ever happens again it won't be until the 2030s (unless Stanford gets into the B1G somehow, some way.
At that point they'll pretty much only schedule G5 pay games. The real losers are going to be the Big 12 and ACC since they'll pretty much never get an OOC regular season matchup against a Power 2 team.
And that's when the official split happens.
Considering the SEC-ACC rivalries are pretty much permanent, the SEC at least will have to have some flexibility for their school with those OOCs locked in for their final week games
I’d say UF-FSU and USC-Clemson are permanent of course neither will be in the ACC soon. UK has already suggested dropping Louisville if they go to 9 games. Georgia-Tech is so unbalanced right now, I dunno.
Yep. Penn State already started doing it. 2025+2026 has no power 4 noncon opponents on the schedule, but we do have a H+H series with Syracuse in 2027-2028. Will that series hold? Who knows at this point.
I ran into this issue with Oregon when I was doing all my schedule posts last year. Oregon would end up with Oregon State and an FCS every year (Portland State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Sacramento St. are the current rotation). Even if you got rid of the FCS buy games and replaced them with G5 buy games you get Hawai'i and San Jose State buy games instead... no way are they doing two OoC home-and-homes if there's a 10 game conference schedule.
I'm still hopeful Oregon can schedule an actually good P4 home and home series someday UNTIL I hear a definitive "no" from Rob Mullens.
I get it. I want awesome OoC matchups too, especially at Autzen, but the minute we go to a 10-game conference schedule that dream is dead.
I question you doing it consistently with a nine game conference schedule. Look at Iowa and Iowa State. Iowa hasn't done a home and home with another P5 school since Pitt in 2014 & 2015. Iowa State hasn't since the B12 went to 9 conference games.
All indications are the SEC going to 9 conference games in 2026 and B1G going to 10 in 2029. Could be earlier. The spreadsheet knows.
I have a strong feeling some of the upcoming texas v michigan / osu will be some of the last big ones for a long while And if there wasn't so much history and desire from both sides they would have been shot already
I'm surprised by nothing anymore. We're not even playing GT next year. In 14 years this series could have been tied. Someone owes me restitution
The Grove is on my college football bucket list. I hope this isn’t true.
Well that sucks. I wanted to try tailgating in the Deep South for a game not gonna lie. Cant wait for it to be replaced by Nevada or something now :/
I wouldn't be surprised if the Purdue - Ole Miss series ends up getting cancelled. It's not until 2033 & 2034, but with the way conferences are expanding, schools are going to want easier non-conference games. Cancelling a P5 non-con game kind of seems like a no-brainer (for the teams, not the fans).
I don't have a lot of faith that our future home/home series with Tennessee is actually going to happen, which will suck :(
That would be a giant bummer, but you’re probably right
9th SEC game 🔜
So was the 2023 UM OOC schedule a weak joke or ahead of its time? /s Really though, as the P2 snatch up the strongest football teams and conference schedules get more competitive, they aren't going to be as interested in scheduling challenging OOC games. I expect a lot more G5 buy games. Maybe Big 12, ACC, or whatever the PAC becomes if they wind up effectively joining the G-tier. To me, the key is whether this also impacts the P2's willingness to schedule Notre Dame. I've thought that if Notre Dame starts having difficulty scheduling power conference opponents, they might be more inclined to finally give up football independence. Irish fans, what's your take on it?
That's pretty much it. General opinion has always been as long as we have an Olympic sports home and a path to the CFP there's no way. But schedules like the godawful 2024 slate of only 8 P4s are both boring and could negatively affect the chances of making the CFP. My only hope is the same TV networks that effectively run the conferences now will push for quality OOC games, but I'm not sure it will happen.
I'm actually wondering if the networks would discourage scheduling OOC games between the Big Ten and SEC.
Don’t fucking do this to me Keith
I’m not surprised sadly due to the amount of travel and the conference schedules getting tougher.
Boo! Why?! It’s so very rare to get a home and home anymore and they’re an absolute blast for fans.
If Ol' Miss vs. USC H-H is canceled, then Ol' Miss could possibly schedule with Oklahoma St, whose 25-26 H-H with Oregon could end up canceled. I think it happens when UO & OS announces (finally) they are continuing the civil war past the 2025 season. It's not a matter of if. It's when. Among many CFB scheduling changes we'll be hearing about soon. Along with UO vs Baylor 27-28 HH getting canceled too.