College football officially returns this weekend as the 2021 season begins with five FBS matchups on Saturday, August 28. Among those five, UCLA is the first Pac-12 Conference team to take the field this season as the Bruins host former ASU head coach Todd Graham and Hawaii on Saturday afternoon.
Non-conference scheduling can be a tricky beast, as programs want to challenge and prepare themselves for the typically maniacal parity of the Pac-12, but overstuffing one’s non-conference slate can create disadvantages as well.
What lies ahead for Pac-12 programs outside their nine intraleague games in 2021?
Pac-12 South Non-Conference Schedules
ASU: Southern Utah (Sept. 2), UNLV (Sept. 11), at BYU (Sept. 18)
Colorado: Northern Colorado (Sept.3), vs. Texas A&M (Denver, Colo., Sept. 11), Minnesota (Sept. 18)
UCLA: Hawaii (Aug. 28), LSU (Sept. 4), Fresno State (Sept. 18)
USC: San Jose State (Sept. 4), at Notre Dame (Oct. 23), BYU (Nov. 27) Utah: Weber State (Sept. 2), at BYU (Sept. 11), at San Diego State (Sept. 18)
Arizona: BYU (Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 4), San Diego State (Sept. 11), Northern Arizona (Sept. 18)
Pac-12 North Non-Conference Schedules
California: Nevada (Sept. 4), at TCU (Sept. 11), Sacramento State (Sept. 18)
Oregon: Fresno State (Sept. 4), at Ohio State (Sept. 11), Stony Brook (Sept. 18)
Oregon State: at Purdue (Sept. 4), Hawaii (Sept. 11), Idaho (Sept. 18)
Stanford: vs. Kansas State (Arlington, Texas, Sept. 4), at Vanderbilt (Sept. 18), Notre Dame (Nov. 27)
Washington: Montana (Sept. 4), at Michigan (Sept. 11), Arkansas State (Sept. 18)
Washington State: Utah State (Sept. 4), Portland State (Sept. 11), BYU (Oct. 23)
Toughest Schedule: UCLA
It can be, well, tough to pick the toughest schedule because it’s not just about the team with the best opponents, but also the team that might have the greatest level of difficulty against its opponents.
Whether you love or hate the Bruins; in recent years, you have to give them credit for scheduling rigorous non-conference opponents – although that has often been to their dismay as losses against challenging early season adversaries have helped keep UCLA away from bowl eligibility since 2017.
In fact, UCLA has lost seven straight non-conference regular season games with its most recent non-conference win coming on Sept. 9, 2017, when Jim Mora coached Josh Rosen and company to a 56-23 win over Hawaii.
This year, UCLA joins USC and Stanford as the only three programs in the Pac-12 to have all three non-conference games filled with FBS opponents.
Though all three non-conference games are at home; it is a tough trio, starting with Todd Graham and Hawaii visiting the Rose Bowl. Graham was 2-1 in Pasadena as ASU’s head coach with wins in 2013 and ’15 and a loss in 2017. Hawaii was 5-4 with a New Mexico Bowl win in Graham’s debut season last year.
In game two, LSU comes to town, a program that suffered setbacks last season but is not long removed from one of the most dominant national championship runs in recent college football history.
LSU has not lost to a Pac-12 team since a 17-12 defeat at the hands of USC in 1979. This will be the Tigers’ first matchup with a Pac-12 opponent since beating Washington by a score of 41-3 in 2012, and it is LSU’s first road trip to a Pac-12 venue since its 31-23 win at Washington in 2009 – so no, if you were thinking that ASU’s heart-shattering 2005 loss to LSU in Tempe was the Tigers’ most recent trip to the west coast, that’s not the case.
Game three, UCLA hosts Fresno State, a program that is not quite the same as it was during its 22-win stretch across the 2017-18 seasons but as a third-tier non-conference game for the Bruins, the Bulldogs are more of a challenge for UCLA than the proverbial “C” team on most other Pac-12 teams’ schedules figures to be this season.
To defeat LSU is a tall order for the Bruins, but for UCLA to have the caliber of season some expect out of the Bruins; they cannot afford to open with a losing record in non-conference play, as was their fate in both 2018 and 2019.
Easiest Schedule: Arizona State
One of four Pac-12 teams not to play a Power Five non-conference opponent or Notre Dame, ASU begins with FCS opponent Southern Utah, a program that went 1-5 during its 2021 spring schedule – albeit in consistently heartbreaking fashion as all losses were by one score, and four were by three or fewer points. In 2019, the Thunderbirds finished 3-9, and they were 1-10 in 2018.
Next up is UNLV is Tempe, a program that was 0-6 in 2020 and from 2014-19 failed to win more than five games in a single season. Overall, UNLV has only appeared in one bowl game in the past 20 years and two since 1995. UNLV’s eight total wins across the 2018-20 seasons is the fewest by any FBS non-conference opponent for a Pac-12 team this year.
The wildcard in ASU’s non-conference schedule is BYU, one of the nation’s elite teams outside the Power Five last year but a program absolutely depleted by departures. Pac-12 fans will get a very healthy dose of the Cougars in 2021 as BYU has five games on its schedule against teams from the conference.
ASU’s matchup against BYU is very unpredictable because it is a road game for the Sun Devils and no one can truly predict the capabilities of this new look Cougar team. The Sun Devils have historically had their struggles away from Tempe as ASU is 3-8 in its past 11 regular season games away from Sun Devil Stadium – though, of course, the most recent non-conference road contest resulted in a thrilling win for ASU at Michigan State early in the 2019 season.
Preseason Top-25 Opponents
Ohio State: (No. 4 in Associated Press Poll/No. 4 in Coaches Poll)
Texas A&M: (No. 6 in both)
Notre Dame: (No. 9/No. 7)
LSU: (No. 16/No. 13)
Others Receiving Votes: TCU (40 in AP, 48 in Coaches Poll), Michigan (12/30), Nevada (seven/two), BYU (six/53), San Jose State (18 in Coaches Poll)
Strangest Schedule
It certainly is not uncommon for USC to play at least one late-season non-conference game per year given its annual showdown with Notre Dame, but for 2021 the Trojans have one out of conference affair in September (San Jose State, Sept. 4), one in October (at Notre Dame, Oct. 23) and one in November in the final week of the season (BYU, Nov. 27). To have the three non-conference games peppered across those three months seems, in a word – weird.
Can’t Miss Contests
Oregon at Ohio State (Sept. 11): One of the marquee games of the early season schedule across the college football nation, this contest puts two bona fide College Football Playoff contenders in action against one another. The losing team will suffer a serious dent in its CFP hopes just a few weeks into the 2021 season and at least for Oregon, a road victory could put the Ducks on a path to a potential undefeated season.
Washington at Michigan (Sept. 11): The 12th all-time meeting between the Huskies and the Wolverines – four times previously having occurred at the Rose Bowl – Washington and Michigan meet for the first time since a home-and-home series in 2001-02 that resulted in close wins for the home team each time. This game will be a huge early barometer for two teams with high aspirations within their conferences but also the need to prove themselves.
USC at Notre Dame (Oct. 23): One of the most storied rivalries in college football, due to last season’s scheduling issues, USC and Notre Dame did not meet for the first time since 1945 – if you take World War II out of the equation, it is the first time the two programs did not play since their series began in 1926. Notre Dame has won three in a row and four of five against the Trojans.
UCLA vs. LSU (Sept. 4): From National Champions in 2019 to a 5-5 finish last year, LSU is looking to bounce back with ferocity in 2021 – and is generally expected to return to form as the Tigers landed inside the preseason top-20 in both major polls. UCLA, on the other hand is hopeful to finally turn the corner under head coach Chip Kelly and even a competitive effort against LSU could help with the Bruins’ upward trajectory, while a win could catapult expectations through the roof that UCLA could contend for the division crown this year.
Colorado vs. Texas A&M (Sept. 11 in Denver, Colo.): The first renewal of the series between former Big 12 Conference foes since 2009, Colorado holds an all-time 6-3 edge in games all played across the 1995-2009 seasons. Texas A&M, a preseason top-10 team will be a firm test to see if Colorado’s surprising 2020 season will carry over to 2021.
Best Chance for an FCS Upset
Northern Arizona at Arizona (Sept. 18)
Territorial Cup rivalry bias aside, there really aren’t any FCS matchups for Pac-12 programs in 2021 that stand out as more plausible options than this one. Though it likely is far-fetched that the visiting team will pull off the in-state upset in this one, it still could have some intrigue to it.
Naturally, there are several storylines at play, as NAU has a host of Arizona natives on its roster, many of which likely feel they were overlooked as recruits by the team from Tucson and will enter the game with a proverbial chip on their shoulder. Additionally, head coach Chris Ball and assistant coaches Bob Connelly and Robin Pflugrad undoubtedly still have some rivalry feelings for the Wildcats from their time in Tempe. Also, of course, offensive coordinator Aaron Pflugrad was in the Arizona State program from 2009-11 and experienced both crushing defeats and euphoric victory against Arizona and likely will approach this game as if he were playing in yet another Territorial Cup showdown.
The Lumberjacks finished 3-2 in the abbreviated spring 2021 season, including a heartbreaking Hail Mary loss at Weber State – a program that would finish the season ranked third nationally at the FCS level. Arizona, on the other hand, enters the 2021 season with the second-longest active losing streak among Power Five programs.
Neutral Site Showdowns
Three Pac-12 programs will appear in neutral site non-conference games this season, as on Sept. 4, Stanford will face Kansas State at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and Arizona will play BYU at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. A week later, Colorado will compete against Texas A&M at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High.
Frequently Faced Foes
BYU (5)
The Cougars could literally have an argument to be eligible to play for the Pac-12 Conference title in 2021 as five of BYU’s 12 regular season games come against Pac-12 squads. The Cougars open with three consecutive games against the Pac-12, first against Arizona in Las Vegas and then home clashes with Utah and ASU the next two weeks. BYU later plays Washington State in Pullman on Oct. 23 and closes the regular season at USC.
Fresno State, Hawaii, Notre Dame, San Diego State (2)
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