Florida will open the season against Michigan in Arlington, Texas, and finish things with Florida State at home
The SEC takes all sorts of heat for its non-conference scheduling, and, frankly, this coming year probably won’t be much different.
Sure, there’s a Florida State here and a Clemson there, and there are those end-of-season ACC rivalries, but the SEC’s non-conference scheduling remains largely unfulfilling from a viewer’s perspective. After a 2016 to forget (outside the state of Alabama), the league may be in a bit of a redemption period this coming season.
Here are our rankings of the SEC’s top non-conference schedules, from most difficult to least challenging.
1. Florida
Sept. 2 vs. Michigan (in Arlington, Texas)
Sept. 9 vs. Northern Colorado
Nov. 18 vs. UAB
Nov. 25 vs. Florida State
Now this is a non-conference schedule: Not just two Power Five teams, but two Power Five teams that played in last year’s Orange Bowl. Well done, Gators.
2. Georgia
Sept. 2 vs. Appalachian State
Sept. 9 at Notre Dame
Sept. 16 vs. Samford
Nov. 25 at Georgia Tech
Not bad, Dawgs. Two challenging Power Five road environments, along with an opener against a Sun Belt team that is 21-5 over the past two seasons. Not bad at all.
3. South Carolina
Sept. 2 vs. NC State (in Charlotte, N.C.)
Sept. 23 vs. Louisiana Tech
Nov. 18 vs. Wofford
Nov. 25 vs. Clemson
That season-ending tilt with Clemson is always a challenge, especially in this era of Tigers football, and a neutral-site opener against an annual bowl team from the ACC is nothing to sneeze at, either.
4. Alabama
Sept. 2 vs. Florida State (in Atlanta)
Sept. 9 vs. Fresno State
Sept. 16 vs. Colorado State
Nov. 18 vs. Mercer
The opener with the Seminoles is arguably the most anticipated non-conference game in the sport in years. These could be the preseason Nos. 1 and 2 teams, meeting in Week 1. But there is not much else of substance here.
5. Auburn
Sept. 2 vs. Georgia Southern
Sept. 9 at Clemson
Sept. 16 vs. Mercer
Nov. 18 vs. ULM
Auburn and Clemson is always fun. Georgia Southern ain’t too shabby, either.
6. Vanderbilt
Sept. 2 at Middle Tennessee
Sept. 9 vs. Alabama A&M
Sept. 16 vs. Kansas State
Nov. 4 vs. Western Kentucky
Vanderbilt is up at No. 6 ahead of some other comparable SEC teams because of the strength of schedule relative to expectations. A Week 1 road trip, a home tilt with an always-good KSU team and a November tilt with a Western Kentucky team that’s gone 23-5 the past two years is challenging for the Commodores.
7. Texas A&M
Sept. 3 at UCLA
Sept. 9 vs. Nicholls State
Sept. 16 vs. UL Lafayette
Nov. 11 vs. New Mexico
Last year’s opener with the Bruins in College Station went to OT. This one, on a Sunday night, takes place at the Rose Bowl, lending some punch to an otherwise-meh non-conference slate.
8. Arkansas
Sept. 2 vs. Florida A&M (in Little Rock)
Sept. 9 vs. TCU
Sept. 30 vs. New Mexico State
Nov. 4 vs. Coastal Carolina
A three-hour trip to Little Rock is as far as the Hogs will travel outside of SEC play. TCU at home is a stiff challenge, though.
9. Kentucky
Sept. 2 at Southern Miss
Sept. 9 vs. Eastern Kentucky
Sept. 30 vs. Eastern Michigan
Nov. 25 vs. Louisville
The Wildcats should be thankful for their season-ending rivalry game with Louisville, because there’s nothing else here of note.
10. Tennessee
Sept. 4 vs. Georgia Tech (in Atlanta)
Sept. 9 vs. Indiana State
Sept. 23 vs. UMass
Nov. 4 vs. Southern Miss
A Labor Day opener in the Yellow Jackets’ backyard is a nice cap to a great opening weekend in the sport, but that’s about it as far as the Volunteers’ non-conference schedule is concerned.
11. LSU
Sept. 2 vs. BYU (in Houston)
Sept. 9 vs. Chattanooga
Sept. 23 vs. Syracuse
Sept. 30 vs. Troy
No road games. Syracuse as the lone Power Five opponent. There is that intriguing neutral-site opener with BYU, but the Tigers usually schedule better than this.
12. Mississippi State
Sept. 2 vs. Charleston Southern
Sept. 9 at Louisiana Tech
Oct. 14 vs. BYU
Nov. 4 vs. UMass
Hooray for a road game. And BYU at home. Still no Power Five games, though.
13. Ole Miss
Sept. 2 vs. South Alabama
Sept. 9 vs. UT Martin
Sept. 16 at Cal
Nov. 11 vs. UL Lafayette
There’s that trip to Cal... and that’s it. Hopefully the Rebels have better luck in their opener with South Alabama than rival Mississippi State did last year, though.
14. Missouri
Sept. 2 vs. Missouri State
Sept. 16 vs. Purdue
Oct. 21 vs. Idaho
Oct. 28 at UConn
There is a Power Five team here, at least. Alas, it’s Purdue, in the first year of a new regime.
— Written by Matt Fortuna, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network and spent six seasons covering college football for ESPN.com. Fortuna’s work has been honored by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) seven times. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_Fortuna and like his Facebook page.
