Cal Football: Scheduling Chaos Will Ensue if the Pac-12 Zaps Non-Conference Games

Hawaii and BYU each are scheduled to play three times vs. Pac-12 opponents

Is it possible that TCU, currently scheduled to play at Berkeley on Sept. 5 in Cal’s 2020 football home opener, might actually wind up facing Nick Saban's powerhouse Alabama squad that day instead?

That’s the speculation from some in the South after word last week from multiple Pac-12 coaches that the conference has at least discussed an option that would eliminate non-conference games in order to delay the start of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A USA Today story delved into the topic:

A variety of reports out of Alabama last week said that after three Pac-12 coaches discussed the conference-games-only model, Alabama and TCU began talks about playing. On Sept. 5, Alabama is scheduled to play Southern Cal in Arlington, Texas. That same day, TCU is scheduled to play at Cal in Berkeley, California. TCU playing Alabama in Arlington would be an easy and quick fix for that scheduling quagmire.

It should be stressed that no decisions have been made about altering the schedules of Pac-12 football teams. There are a lot of conversations happening daily, aimed at finding answers for every potential scenario.

California and Oregon — home to half of the Pac-12’s schools — still face closures, at least in certain regions. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said there will be no large crowd gatherings in her state at least through the end of September, and the Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti commented last month that his city may extend a similar ban through the end of the calendar year.

In both cases, Pac-12 football would be impacted.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said he envisions the possible return of professional sports in the state (without fans) in the first week of June, but did not address college sports. He also has said that different regions in the state will be able to address the process of opening up at their own pace.

So, what might happen in the month of September for schools currently expecting to play Pac-12 opponents?

Cecil Hurt, who writes for the Tuscaloosa News, reached out to Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne about a possible Alabama-TCU matchup, and received this response: “Our plan is to play USC.”

Of course, Byrne no doubt has a Plan B somewhere in his desk drawer.

Pac-12 schools have other high-profile games at risk, including Oregon’s Sept. 12 home game against Ohio State, Oregon State’s Sept. 3 opener vs. Oklahoma State, and Washington’s Sept. 5 matchup vs. Michigan.

No schools would be more impacted by a potential change than Hawaii and BYU, which have three games each scheduled against Pac-12 opponents. Notre Dame, UNLV, Colorado State, Portland State and Utah State each would have to reschedule two games on their schedules if the Pac-12 eliminated non-conference matchups.

Here is the current schedule of non-conference games for Pac-12 teams:

ARIZONA: Aug. 29 vs. Hawaii; Sept. 5 vs. Portland State; Sept. 19 at Texas Tech

ARIZONA STATE: Sept. 3 vs. Northern Arizona; Sept. 12 at UNLV; Sept. 19 vs. BYU

CAL: Aug. 29 at UNLV; Sept. 5 vs. TCU; Sept. 12 vs. Cal Poly

COLORADO: Sept. 5 at Colorado State; Sept. 12 vs. Fresno State; Sept. 19 at Texas A&M

OREGON: Sept. 5 vs. North Dakota State; Sept. 12 vs. Ohio State; Sept. 19 vs. Hawaii

OREGON STATE: Sept. 3 at Oklahoma State; Sept. 12 vs. Colorado State; Sept. 19 vs. Portland State

STANFORD: Sept. 5 vs. William & Mary; Oct. 10 vs. Notre Dame; Nov. 28 vs. BYU

UCLA: Aug. 29 vs. New Mexico State; Sept. 5 at Hawaii; Sept. 19 at San Diego State

USC: Sept. 5 vs. Alabama; Sept. 12 vs. New Mexico; Nov. 28 vs. Notre Dame

UTAH: Sept. 3 vs. BYU; Sept. 12 vs. Montana State; Sept. 19 vs. Wyoming

WASHINGTON: Sept. 5 vs. Michigan; Sept. 12 vs. Sacramento State; Sept. 19 vs. Utah State

WASHINGTON STATE: Sept. 3 at Utah State; Sept. 12 vs. Houston; Sept. 19 vs. Idaho

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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