It was announced a few days ago that UTEP and Alabama mutually agreed to cancel their 2008 meeting. Sadly, they were probably our most compelling out of conference (OOC) opponent for 2008. I'm not just saying that because of the Mike Price circus sideshow it would bring to town, but because they are legitimately the best/most interesting opponent of the four (discounting the revenge factor with Northern Illinois.) The three remaining OOC opponents are: Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois and Tulane. That currently leaves a seven game home slate of Western Kentucky, Tulane, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Northern Illinois, Mississippi State and Auburn. Needless to say, there's only one high demand ticket on that list.
Todd provided a list of quality opponents that had gaps in their 2008 schedule according to NationalChamps.net. There were some incredibly appealing teams on the list, but how many of them are really feasible? I'm going to attempt to narrow down the list of possible replacements for UTEP on a conference by conference basis over the next several days and state why or why not I think a team is a legitimate contender to fill the vacancy. I too have drawn my info from NationalChamps.net. First I'll list who each team in a conference has on their 2008 OOC schedule so far and then analyze the probability of the ones that technically can play us and perhaps offer suggestions for what it would take to make it happen. When all is said and done I'll make a master list of who can do it and provide my wish list to help improve the dreadful 2008 OOC schedule.
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Boston College: 11/8 (Notre Dame), 3 OOC games left to schedule.
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Clemson: All four OOC games scheduled.
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Duke: All four OOC games scheduled.
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Florida State: 9/20 (Colorado), 11/29 (Florida), two OOC games left to schedule.
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Georgia Tech: All four OOC games scheduled.
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Maryland: All four OOC games scheduled.
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Miami: All four OOC games scheduled.
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North Carolina: 9/27 (Rutgers), 10/4 (UConn), 10/11 (Notre Dame), 1 OOC left to schedule.
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North Carolina State: 8/28 (S. Carolina), 9/27 (USF), TBA (Tennessee), 1 OOC left to schedule.
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Virginia: All four OOC games scheduled.
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Virginia Tech: All four OOC games scheduled.
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Wake Forest: All four OOC games scheduled.
Boston College, Florida State, North Carolina and North Carolina State are the only possibilities out of the ACC.
Boston College would be the most likely option from the four. They only have one game scheduled so far and an early season match-up between BC and Alabama would be one that would get a decent amount of attention. A home and away series would be necessary to land a team of this caliber though unless we agreed to play a neutral site game with a 50/50 split like we're doing with FSU this year.
Florida State isn't likely because 1) we're playing them this year, 2) their schedule features two BCS opponents already, 3) it'd require a home and away scheduling or another neutral site game.
North Carolina isn't likely either. They face three BCS teams OOC in 2008 and two of them are more than likely going to be losses. For a team that is playing East Carolina and James Madison this year, I don't see them adding Bama to an already daunting OOC schedule next year. Would also probably require a home and away series or a neutral game.
North Carolina State is the least likely of the four in my opinion. They're taking on three BCS opponents, two of which are from the SEC. Additionally, there is a high likelihood they could drop all three games they have scheduled so far. Would require a home and away series or a neutral game.
The only solid possibility I see out of the ACC is Boston College. If they made that happen in 2008 (whether home or away), I would be quite pleased.
At least two more conferences will be posted tomorrow.