SEC football: Grading Auburn, rest of league’s non-conference scheduling
By Rob Maxwell
Texas A&M
Welcome to College Station, Jimbo Fisher: The No. 1 seed from last season’s College Football Playoff will visit your home field in Week 2. Fisher and the Aggies get Clemson in back-to-back seasons to begin his tenure in the SEC. The only thing missing is a series against Texas — and you can bet that will be discussed for years to come as both sides have shown some level of interest in making it happen. The Aggies and Longhorns have played 113 times but not since 2011 (A&M’s last as a member of the Big 12).
Future non-conference opponents
2018: Northwestern State, Clemson, Louisiana-Monroe, UAB
2019: Texas State, at Clemson, Lamar, UTSA
2020: North Texas, Colorado, Fresno State, Abilene Christian
2021: Kent State, at Colorado, New Mexico
2022: Appalachian State, Miami (Fla.)
2023: New Mexico, at Miami (Fla.)
2024: Notre Dame
2025: at Notre Dame
2026: Arizona State
2027: at Arizona State
FlyWarEagle analysis: Now this is how you do it. Home-and-home vs. Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame. Great work by the A&M athletic department. It’s smart because you throw in Colorado (2020-21) and Arizona State (2026-27) — a couple of teams you don’t know what to expect from — and it’s great work with an already brutal SEC West schedule. Grade: A