With strength of schedule now being figured prominently into college football teams’ Bowl Championship Series rankings, more and more top tier programs from power conferences are opting to play at least one game every season against another powerhouse program from a rival conference.
The schedule makers at the University of Tennessee have been in the practice of playing a ‘big name’ school from a rival conference on a home-and-away basis since even before Phillip Fulmer took over as head coach in 1992.
Former UT head coach Johnny Majors coached some of his most memorable games against highly-regarded non-conference foes such as Notre Dame, Colorado, Georgia Tech and Southern Cal, among others.
A noted recruiter, Fulmer has long maintained the importance of scheduling highly-regarded opponents from other power conferences not just for BCS clout, but also in an effort to get the Tennessee Product out to high school players in other parts of the country who might not be exposed to the Orange and White otherwise.
For the coming up 2007 slate, the Vols will open the season in Berkeley, California against the nationally-ranked Golden Bears in a game already slotted for a primetime telecast on national television.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence the Vols have had such success at landing California athletes in years past. This coming season, as is the case most years, a California native is featured prominently in the Vols’ expected starting lineup (Junior tailback Arian Foster, a San Diego native).
Incoming freshman offensive line prospect Cody Pope (from Julian) and ballyhooed junior college transfer receiver Kenny O’ Neal (from San Ramon) each hail from the talent-laden Golden State.
Following the season opener on the West Coast, the Vols will host Southern Mississippi, a team regarded as a giant killer based on its past successes against nationally-ranked opponents. The Vols will face another upset-hungry non-conference foe on Sept. 22, the week after facing conference arch-rival Florida, when Arkansas State visits Neyland Stadium.
After a run of four straight conference games in October, Tennessee will wrap its non-conference slate with a homecoming game against Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Vols 2008 non-conference grid begins with the season-opener against Alabama-Birmingham in Knoxville on August 30. The following week calls for a return trip to the West Coast, this time to Pasadena, Ca., to face traditional Pac 10 power UCLA.
UT will also host Northern Illinois and Wyoming in 2008.
The 2009 slate, released just this week, will feature a return visit from the Bruins in the season-opener at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 12. The Vols will host Ohio and Memphis in ’09 with one non-conference opponent yet to be determined.
The Vols aren’t alone in the practice of dotting the schedule with big name, non-league opponents as a way of gaining both national exposure and respect in the polls.
The University of Alabama, long lambasted for playing weak opponents outside the league, has decided to step up the future competition on its schedule as well.
The Tide, in their first season under newly-hired head coach Nick Saban, play arguably the league’s best non-conference match-up of the year on Sept. 29 when they face highly-ranked Florida State in Jacksonville, Florida. The Tide opens the season with directional school powerhouse Western Carolina.
Arkansas, which played a home-and-away series with Southern Cal the past two seasons, has perhaps the easiest non-conference road in the SEC with games against Troy, North Texas, Chattanooga and Florida International.
Auburn opens the season against Kansas State. The Tigers will face South Florida, New Mexico State and Tennessee Tech in their other non-league tilts.
National Champion Florida always wraps up its regular season with a shootout against hated in-state rival Florida State. This year the Gators will also play Western Kentucky, Troy (the week before they host the Vols) and Florida Atlantic.
The Georgia Bulldogs open with a home game against the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. Georgia will also face Western Carolina, Troy and Georgia Tech, its traditional final game opponent.
Kentucky will host Louisville, a relatively new national contender on Sept. 15. The Wildcats have a solid chance at accomplishing an unusual winning record in '07 with non-conference home games against Eastern Kentucky, Kent State and Florida Atlantic mixed in with the always-rugged SEC East slate.
Highly-ranked LSU will play a much-anticipated national match-up on Sept. 8 when ACC power Virginia Tech visits Baton Rouge. LSU also hosts Middle Tennessee State, Tulane (in New Orleans) and Louisiana Tech.
Ole Miss hosts Missouri on Sept 8 in its toughest non-conference game. The Rebels other non-league games include Memphis, Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State.
Mississippi State will visit always treacherous Morgantown, West Virginia on Oct. 20 to face the Mountaineers in an intriguing non-league match-up for the Bulldogs. Head coach Sylvester Croom’s team will also play Tulane, Gardner-Webb and UAB in non-conference games.
South Carolina reinforced its non-league slate with a game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Oct. 13 to go along with the Gamecocks’ traditional final game match-up with state foe Clemson. USC will also face Louisiana-Lafayette and South Carolina State this year.
Vanderbilt will face ACC dark horse Wake Forest on Nov. 24, the week after playing the Vols in Knoxville. The Commodores will also see Richmond, Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio).