First and foremost, I’d like to give a shout-out to Staking The Plains reader Scott, who emailed me the spreadsheet and compiled all of the data. He emailed it to me months ago and so I don’t think much has changed, but if it has, I’d bet it is just one or two teams. Still, I thought this was a neat exercise and one where you can cross some teams off your list as well as get an idea as to who would be considered.
ACC
| ACC | Possible? | Currently Scheduled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College Eagles | Y | Umass, Holy Cross | |
| Clemson Tigers | N | Full | |
| Duke Blue Devils | Y* | Northwestern, Baylor, Army | Already playing Baylor |
| Florida State Seminoles | Y* | Notre Dame, Florida | Already 2 Power teams |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | Y | Tulane, Georgia | |
| Louisville Cardinals | Y | Kentucky | |
| Miami (FL) Hurricanes | N | Full | |
| NC State Wolfpack | N | Full | |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | Y | California, E. Carolina | |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | Y* | Penn St, Notre Dame | Already 2 Power teams |
| Syracuse Orange | Y | Notre Dame, Uconn | |
| Virginia Cavaliers | Y | Richmond, Indiana | |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | N | Full | |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | N | Full |
So, it looks like Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina Syracuse and Virginia are the options. That Louisville game would be pretty fun and I’d love to see Georgia Tech.
Big Ten
| Big Ten | Possible? | Currently Scheduled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Fighting Illini | N | Full | |
| Indiana Hoosiers | N | Full | |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | N | Full | |
| Maryland Terrapins | N | Full | |
| Michigan Wolverines | Y* | Arkansas, SMU | 2 teams from same region |
| Michigan State Spartans | Y | Arizona St, C. Michigan | |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | Y | Miami (OH) | |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | N | Full | |
| Northwestern Wildcats | Y* | Duke, Notre Dame | Already 2 Power teams |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | Y* | Oregon St, TCU | Already 2 Power teams |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | N | Full | |
| Purdue Boilermakers | Y | E. Michigan, Missouri | |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Y* | Kansas, Miami (FL) | Already 2 Power teams |
| Wisconsin Badgers | Y | New Mexico, BYU |
So maybe Michigan State, Minnesota (did wonders for TCU), Purdue and Wisconsin are all options for the Big Ten.
Pac-12
| Pac-12 | Possible? | Currently Scheduled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Wildcats | N | Full | |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | N | Full | |
| California Golden Bears | N | Full | |
| Colorado Buffaloes | N | Full | |
| Oregon Ducks | Y | Bowling Green | |
| Oregon State Beavers | Y* | Ohio St, Nevada | Usually only plays 1 power team/year |
| Stanford Cardinal | Y | San Diego St, Notre Dame | |
| UCLA Bruins | N | Full | |
| USC Trojans | Y* | Texas, Notre Dame | Already playing Texas |
| Utah Utes | N | Full | |
| Washington Huskies | N | Full | |
| Washington State Cougars | N | Full |
Well, Oregon jumps off the page here as an option, Stanford and possibly Oregon, but as Scott noted, they usually only play one Power Five team each year.
SEC
| SEC | Possible? | Currently Scheduled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama Crimson Tide | Y | TBA | |
| Arkansas Razorbacks | Y* | Michigan, North Texas | Just finished playing them |
| Auburn Tigers | Y | TBA | |
| Florida Gators | Y | Florida State | |
| Georgia Bulldogs | Y | Georgia Tech | |
| Kentucky Wildcats | Y | Louisville | |
| LSU Tigers | Y* | Miami (FL) | Miami already neutral site…so would most likely schedule home/home |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | Y* | Kansas St, Louisiana Tech | Already Playing Kansas St |
| Missouri Tigers | Y | Wyoming, Purdue, Memphis | |
| Ole Miss Rebels | Y | TBA | |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | Y | Clemson | |
| Tennessee Volunteers | Y* | West Virginia, ETSU, Charlotte | Already Playing West Virginia |
| Texas A&M Aggies | Y | Clemson | |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | Y | Middle Tenn St |
I’m guessing that Alabama an dAuburn are options, as are Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. So, there appears to be quite a few options in the SEC.
Independent
| Independent | Possible? | Currently Scheduled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | Y | 2 spots left | No one from the Big 12 is on their schedule |
Well, let’s just do this. We could all use a road trip to South Bend, right?
So, let’s hear what you think would be your top five options for the 2018 game?