Last week was an awful one for college football. The Ivy League canceled its fall season, and the Big Ten and Pac-12 axed all of their non-conference games.
While one could make an argument that this increases the chances of a fall season in those two conferences -- standardized testing protocols, elbow room in the schedule to move games around -- there's nothing inherently riskier about a non-conference game.
With 66 games now orphaned -- there were more than 66 total games canceled but some, like Ohio State-Oregon and Michigan-Washington, were double-canceled -- I took it upon myself to play scheduling matchmaker.
Some of these games below are just begging to be played. For instance, Alabama is already booked to play in the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium on Sept. 5, and TCU is without a dance partner for that same day after Cal dropped out. Why wouldn't the Frogs just make the 20 minute drive down Interstate 30 to Arlington?
On Sept. 19, Texas A&M and Texas Tech both lost Pac-12 opponents. (A&M was supposed to host Colorado; Tech was slated to host Arizona.) Why not take the opportunity to renew this once bitter rivalry?
As you'll see, there are thousands of different ways to piece this puzzle together and this is just one of them. For instance, the Mountain West could save a ton of cash by linking up conference bunk mates and designate them as non-conference games.
This is more of an attempt to, in a sport where games are regularly scheduled a decade in advance, alert the public to the possibilities still on the table so long as we're willing to adjust to sudden change.
Week 0
UNLV vs. New Mexico State
Week 1
TCU vs. Alabama (at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)
BYU vs. Oklahoma State
Florida Atlantic vs. Utah State
Bowling Green vs. Colorado State
Towson vs. Monmouth
William & Mary vs. Illinois State
Hawaii vs. Northern Iowa
Week 2
Virginia Tech vs. BYU
Iowa State vs. Memphis
Syracuse vs. UConn
Tulane vs. Northern Illinois
Western Kentucky vs. Ball State
Houston vs. New Mexico
UNLV vs. Cal Poly
Fresno State vs. Montana State
Colorado State vs. Sacramento State
Central Michigan vs. Southern Illinois
Week 3
Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech
West Virginia vs. Appalachian State
Air Force vs. Central Michigan
Arkansas State vs. Ball State
Temple vs. Buffalo
BYU vs. San Jose State
Hawaii vs. Wyoming*
San Diego State vs. Portland State
San Jose State vs. Idaho
Utah State vs. South Dakota State
* - non-conference game
Week 4
Miami vs. BYU
Boston College vs. UConn
Cincinnati vs. Northern Illinois
Week 13
Notre Dame vs. BYU