Nonconference College Football Showdowns We Wish We Could Schedule in 2016
A push for better nonconference scheduling in college football will pay off during the 2016 season, when arguably the best slate of such games is on tap. Power programs from across the country are set to clash in matchups throughout the year, many coming on opening weekend.
Alabama opens defense of its national title against USC in Arlington, Texas; LSU tangles with Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wisconsin; North Carolina and Georgia meet in Atlanta; UCLA visits Texas A&M; and Texas hosts Notre Dame, just to name a few. These are the kind of games that will add even further anticipation for next season than would have already existed.
But we want more. Much more.
Here are 10 nonconference games we wish would have been part of the 2016 slate.
Kansas vs. UCF
1 of 10
As last season unfolded and it became evident that there wouldn't be enough six-win teams to fill all the bowl slots, one of the many suggestions that popped up for how to handle this dearth included letting FBS' two winless schools—Kansas and UCF—meet somewhere to determine which team was the worst in the country.
Why not, instead, have those teams square off in 2016 to see which has made any improvement?
Kansas has the nation's longest active losing streak at 15 games, while UCF has dropped 13 in a row, with its skid starting in a bowl game at the end of the 2014 season. The Knights went 9-4 that year and then collapsed last season, leading to George O'Leary retiring midway through.
Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost has taken over, and his first year as a coach will see UCF play a non-league slate that includes a Sept. 10 trip to Michigan. The Knights would have a much better shot to win against Kansas, especially if the game were on the road, since the Jayhawks have lost 38 straight outside of Lawrence.
Boston College vs. Missouri
2 of 10
Boston College and Missouri combined to win eight games last season, only five of those against FBS opponents. And in a year when offense again reigned supreme, these teams managed to stand out for their complete lack of production.
The Eagles and Tigers had two of the worst scoring offenses among power-conference teams, averaging 17.2 and 13.6 points per game, respectively. Remove their efforts against FCS competition, which included a 76-0 win by BC over Howard, and those scoring rates dip to 11.7 and 10.6 points per game.
Each team had a strong defense that helped it have a chance to win games, with BC finishing first nationally in yards allowed, but that wasn't enough without the ability to score. BC lost games by scores of 3-0 and 9-7, while Mizzou fell 9-6 and 10-3 and also won a game 9-6.
Texas Tech vs. Washington State
3 of 10
If you like passing, then games involving Texas Tech and Washington State are for you. One that features both schools, then, might blow up the scoreboard.
Washington State averaged 389.2 passing yards per game last season, tops in FBS for the second year in a row, while Tech was second at 388.2. The schools combined for 1,358 pass attempts in 26 games, with 80 touchdown passes between them.
Not surprisingly, there's a reason for the schools' fondness for the forward pass. WSU coach Mike Leach previously ran Texas Tech's program, with one of his former quarterbacks, Kliff Kingsbury, now in charge of the Red Raiders. Kingsbury threw for 12,429 yards and 95 TDs in his Tech career, including FBS bests of 5,017 yards and 45 TDs as a senior in 2002.
Both the Cougars and Red Raiders bring back talented and prolific junior passers for 2015. WSU's Luke Falk threw for 4,561 yards and a school-record 38 TDs last year, while Patrick Mahomes II had 4,653 yards and 36 TDs.
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Baylor vs. Oregon
4 of 10
With all due respect to Texas Tech and Washington State, if we're really looking for a game that could break records, it would be one pitting the two most explosive and dynamic offenses in the country against each other. Oddsmakers would be hard-pressed not to give a game between Baylor and Oregon the first-ever triple-digit over/under lines.
The beauty of the attacks the Bears and Ducks put forth is that neither is overly reliant on one offensive aspect. While strong quarterback play has been the staple for each program, so, too, has ground production. They ranked second and fifth, respectively, in rushing offense in 2015 and combined to score 75 rushing touchdowns.
Adding to the likelihood of a shootout is their respective defenses, or lack thereof. Baylor allowed at least 21 points in 11 of 13 games last year, while Oregon infamously blew a 31-0 lead against TCU in the Alamo Bowl.
BYU vs. Virginia
5 of 10
If such an award existed, Bronco Mendenhall would have been the runaway winner for most shocking offseason coaching move. His hiring by Virginia after 11 seasons and 99 wins at BYU came seemingly out of nowhere when it was announced in December.
Mendenhall had been vocal about his desire to get independent BYU back into a conference, and the move kept him from having to deal with a 2016 schedule that sees the Cougars face six power-league opponents in the first seven weeks. Instead, he's set to play nine of them with the Cavaliers that includes eight in the ACC.
BYU and Virginia met in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and they're set to face off again in 2019 and 2023. Mendenhall hopes those games will be canceled or at least postponed until he's done coaching, saying, "I don’t want to play BYU and I don’t know how I’d handle it," per Kris Wright of TheSabre.com.
Instead, why not make Mendenhall take the team he abandoned BYU for back to his old stomping grounds right away?
Nebraska vs. Oregon State
6 of 10
There is a game scheduled this season between Nebraska and Oregon, the start of a home-and-home series that will be played in Lincoln in 2016 and then move to Eugene in 2017. Cornhuskers coach Mike Riley has plenty of experience with the Ducks, having played them numerous times during his tenure at Oregon State, but this series was scheduled before he switched jobs after the 2014 season.
The Nebraska-Oregon game is one of the more anticipated nonconference games of the upcoming season, though for Riley's sake, he'd be better off playing his former team. Oregon State was 2-10 a year ago and enters this season on a nine-game losing streak, while Oregon won nine games.
Nebraska is coming off a 6-7 season in Riley's first year at the helm, the first losing record for the program since 2007.
Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia
7 of 10
The Backyard Brawl is one of the great rivalries that got pushed aside by conference realignment, with Pittsburgh and West Virginia last playing in 2011 as members of the Big East Conference. After much wrangling, they're set to resume that series…in 2022.
Why must we wait so long?
This is the second longtime rivalry that Pitt has managed to get back on the schedule, with the Panthers set to play Penn State this season for the first time since 2000. That game will make for some great in-state bragging rights, but it still pales in comparison to the fire that came from Backyard Brawl games.
West Virginia rallied from 10 down in the second half to pull out a 21-20 home win in 2011, marking the fourth time in their last five meetings where the outcome was by four points or fewer.
Arkansas vs. Michigan
8 of 10
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh continues to rub the SEC the wrong way, his latest tactic to do so coming in the form of holding part of his team's spring practice at a Florida high school. This will come a few months after he ended his first season with a blowout victory over SEC East Division champ Florida in the Citrus Bowl.
If only the Wolverines were playing an SEC team this season instead of their relatively unimpressive nonconference slate that features games with Hawaii, UCF and Colorado, all at home.
Michigan's next scheduled contest with an SEC school isn't until 2018, when it begins a two-game series at Arkansas. If only that game could get moved up two years and have each team come off a bye beforehand. It would give us two weeks' worth of Harbaugh and noted shade-thrower Bret Bielema trading barbs, potshots and backhanded compliments.
Clemson vs. Houston
9 of 10
Though Clemson has been on the rise for several years, having won 10 or more games for five-plus seasons, it was in 2015 that the Tigers really arrived by making it into the national title game with an unbeaten record. Last season also served as the coming-out party for Houston, which crashed the New Year's Six party with a win over Florida State in the Peach Bowl in coach Tom Herman's first season.
And with each team bringing back a load of talent, particularly on the offensive end, they figure to again be in the mix for big things in 2016.
Houston will get more opportunities to make a name for itself this season, taking on Oklahoma in its opener and hosting Louisville in a high-profile Thursday night game in November. Each of those games will pit the Cougars' solid defense against some dynamic quarterbacks in Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield and Louisville's Lamar Jackson, but an even greater test would be trying to contain Clemson's Deshaun Watson.
To do so would make history, since last year Watson was unstoppable en route to being the first player in FBS history with 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. Not to be outdone, though, Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. had more than 3,900 yards of total offense and scored 21 rushing touchdowns.
Alabama vs. Ohio State
10 of 10
Alabama and Clemson gave us a whopper of a national title game this past season, with the Crimson Tide coming out on top in the end. The only thing that might have made the contest better is if Alabama had a chance to get that championship by going through the team that knocked it off the year before.
Ohio State was the defending champion, but a home loss to Michigan State in November was all it took to keep the Buckeyes out of the playoffs. Had they managed to defeat MSU in that game, they likely would have replaced the Spartans in the semifinals, and an Alabama/Ohio State rematch could have happened some time along the way.
Thankfully, each team has a major nonconference game on its schedule for 2016, with Alabama opening against USC and Ohio State visiting Oklahoma in mid-September. Those will be great games, but any chance to see coaching masterminds Nick Saban and Urban Meyer square off can't be passed up.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
