Alabama cancels home-and-home football series with Michigan State

Alabama canceled its scheduled two-game series with Michigan St. set for 2016-17. (Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images)

Alabama has canceled its non-conference home-and-home series with Michigan State, reports the Detroit Free Press.

The Spartans were scheduled to play in Tuscaloosa in 2016, with the Crimson Tide scheduled to return the trip to East Lansing in 2017.

“Alabama requested to cancel the series due to uncertainty with the SEC schedule,” MSU athletic director Mark Hollis confirmed in a text message to the paper. “While disappointed, in the spirit of collegiality, we agreed to the request.”

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Michigan State has scheduled games with Notre Dame in both of those seasons and the Alabama matchup was agreed upon before the Big Ten Conference decided to play nine conference games. That set up begins in 2016.

The Crimson Tide last played Michigan State in the 2011 Capital One Bowl, routing the co-Big Ten champ Spartans 49–7.

Current Alabama coach Nick Saban coached Michigan State for five seasons before leaving for LSU in 2000.

“We are working toward resolving a number of complexities with our future schedule as it pertains to a nine-game Big Ten schedule,” Hollis wrote. “Regardless, we are looking to strengthen our schedule with on-campus games.”