College football is going to be very different this season.
With each conference evaluating and taking action into their own hands as best they see fit, every single team’s length of schedule will fluctuate.
As recently as last week, the Pac-12 made waves by transitioning to a conference only schedule which erased Alabama’s season opener against USC which would have been played in Arlington, TX on Sept. 5.
How it currently sits, the Pac-12’s announcement has only impacted the Crimson Tide and Texas A&M who both had scheduled to play teams from the conference.
Right now the two are down one game and with many other conferences making having their discussions about what needs to happen there is a chance they will not be the last teams in the SEC to lose out on some games.
But until more conferences come to a decision, Alabama will have the opportunity to fill that game with a new opponent according to SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
“The opportunities will be there,” said Sankey on Fox Sports Radio show Outkick the Coverage. “We’re not alone in having lost non-conference games because of other conference decisions, and so, all of these football programs that have lost opportunities are now looking for games, as well. The good news is, even though we’ve had those two that have slipped away, there will be opportunities for both Alabama and Texas A&M to find other opponents should they move down that pathway.”
Although there is little time to try and find a new opponent, Sankey is not in a panic to solve the issue and believes that the schools will find teams in due time.
“We’ve talked about the interest and opportunities,” Sankey said. “I’ve not asked them, ‘When will you make this decision? And when that might be announced?’ The honest, direct answer is that I don’t know when they’ll make the decision and I don’t when they’ll announce, but I’m certain if they do make that additional game happen that we’ll hear about it in the right time frame.”
Rumors had circulated in the past about USC not being able to play Alabama at the start of the season, which stirred around even more stories about the Crimson Tide possibly playing TCU in its opener.
The Horned Frogs would not need to travel far if the two teams were to still meet at AT&T Stadium, which gives this rumor even more traction.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
