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Stuff to Look Forward To

As I put this week's column together, I realized something: I've been doing this for a while (and, for those of you who've been kind enough to ask, I'm not burned out at all; I'm just tired. The ongoing sleep deprivation of having an infant is hitting a lot harder at 38 than it did at 27, and it was hard at 27. I'll keep getting stuff out when I can). This particular annual column started the first year I did Breadcrumbs back in 2000 as an antidote to my usual mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder; I just wanted to see what was coming in February. Over time it's evolved into a handy listing of the major non-conference schedule for the coming year, so that's what you get this week: My list of games that I'm really looking forward to for next season. There are no hard and fast rules about what gets listed here -- it's a mixture of last year's good teams, teams I expect to make noise, series that have intangible interest, and just fun stuff.

I've also learned over the years that commentary is largely superfluous, so I'll get out of the way in a minute, but first a couple of thoughts:

• The SEC is still underscheduling, but I think this year's schedule is a little better than last year's. The final proof will involve how good some of the mid-major competition that's not listed here is, but at least at the top end this year you've got Auburn adding a series with Florida State, Mississippi State going out to Arizona, Tennessee playing in the Minute Maid Classic, and LSU doing their usual good job of credible non-conference competition. It's not good yet, but there might be some hope that the league is realizing that the lack of serious in-season competition might be hurting them in the postseason.

• There have been concerns that an unintended consequence of the proposed schedule move to a March 1 start date would be that a lot of the interregional games would go away, since a large number of them tend to take place in February now. Looking through the first couple of weeks of March and realizing that the start of the conference schedule would slip at least a week for most leagues under the new plan, in conjunction with recognizing opportunities for games later in the season like the Notre Dame-USC West series in May (which is reminiscent of what I remember of the football schedule to me, in a cool sort of way), I think that there probably wouldn't be a big reduction in the number of serious series. What there might be is a loss in the number of full weekends for major conference teams to play mid-major or lower teams, but I'm not sure how much of a loss that Florida-Villanova series would be, anyway.

What I'm looking forward to:

1/21-1/23		Cal Poly-San Diego
1/28-1/30		Cal Poly-UCLA
1/28-1/30		Long Beach State-Arizona State
2/4-2/6		Cal State Fullerton-Stanford
2/4-2/6		Texas-San Diego State
2/4-2/6		UC Riverside-San Diego
2/8		UC Riverside-UCLA
2/11-2/13		Cal Poly-Pepperdine
2/11-2/13		Florida State-Auburn
2/11-2/13		Kansas-Stanford
2/11-2/13		Long Beach State-Southern California
2/11-2/13		Minute Maid Classic: Baylor, Houston, Tennessee, Rice, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M
2/11-2/13		UC Irvine-Washington
2/11-2/13		Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic: Arizona State, Oklahoma, South Alabama, Gonzaga
2/15		Houston-Rice
2/18		Mississippi-Lamar
2/18-2/20		Cal State Fullerton-Southern California
2/18-2/20		Houston-Pepperdine
2/18-2/20		Miami, Florida-Florida
2/18-2/20		Texas-Stanford
2/18-2/20		Tulane-Arizona State
2/18-2/20		Coca-Cola Classic: Texas A&M, Jacksonville, South Alabama, Wake Forest
2/19		Mississippi-Rice
2/20		East Carolina-Clemson
2/22		Houston-Rice
2/22		Southern Mississippi-South Alabama
2/22		UC Riverside-UCLA
2/25		Texas A&M-Washington
2/25-2/27		Baylor-Arizona State
2/25-2/27		Birmingham-Southern-North Carolina
2/25-2/27		Clemson-UC Irvine
2/25-2/27		Houston-Louisiana State
2/25-2/27		Tulane-Pepperdine
2/25-2/27		UC Riverside-Arizona
2/26		Nebraska-Rice
2/27		Texas A&M-Washington
3/1		Auburn-South Alabama
3/1		Lamar-Rice
3/1		Long Beach State-Pepperdine
3/1		UC Riverside-Southern California
3/4		Nebraska-Rice
3/4-3/5		Oklahoma-Cal State Fullerton
3/4-3/5		Oklahoma-UCLA
3/4-3/6		Baylor-Long Beach State
3/4-3/6		Clemson-Auburn
3/4-3/6		Texas-Arizona
3/4-3/6		UC Riverside-Oregon State
3/4-3/6		Round Rock Classic: Texas A&M, Southern California, Texas State, Notre Dame
3/5		East Carolina-Arizona State
3/5-3/6		Kansas-Mississippi State
3/6		Cal State Fullerton-UCLA
3/6		East Carolina-Georgia
3/6		Lamar-Southern Mississippi
3/6		Nebraska-Southern California
3/8		Oklahoma State-Arkansas
3/8		Southern Mississippi-Mississippi
3/8		Tulane-Louisiana State
3/8		UC Riverside-Southern California
3/9		Texas-Rice
3/11-3/13		Arizona State-Louisiana State
3/11-3/13		Arizona-Mississippi State
3/11-3/13		Baylor-Vanderbilt
3/11-3/13		Cal State Fullerton-Tulane
3/11-3/13		Long Beach State-Houston
3/11-3/13		Texas A&M-UCLA
3/11-3/13		Public Storage Classic: Texas Tech, Southern California, UC Irvine, Wichita State
3/12		Wichita State-Southern California
3/18-3/20		Cal Poly-Washington
3/18-3/20		Cal State Fullerton-Arizona
3/18-3/20		Long Beach State-Wichita State
3/18-3/20		Oklahoma-Arizona State
3/22		Georgia Tech-Auburn
3/22		Texas A&M-Houston
3/29		Cal State Fullerton-UCLA
3/29		Houston-Rice
3/29		Southern Mississippi-Alabama
3/30		Florida-Florida State
3/31-4/3		Miami, Florida-Oral Roberts
4/5		Baylor-Houston
4/5		Georgia Tech-Auburn
4/5		Long Beach State-UCLA
4/5		Southern Mississippi-Mississippi
4/5-4/6		Clemson-Georgia
4/6		Kansas-Wichita State
4/6		Mississippi State-Birmingham-Southern
4/8-4/10		UC Riverside-Washington
4/12		Long Beach State-Pepperdine
4/12		Oklahoma State-Wichita State
4/12		Texas A&M-Rice
4/13		Clemson-South Carolina
4/13		Georgia Tech-Georgia
4/13		Kansas-Wichita State
4/13		North Carolina-East Carolina
4/19		Florida-Florida State
4/19		Southern Mississippi-Mississippi
4/19		Tulane-Louisiana State
4/20		Clemson-South Carolina
4/20		Georgia Tech-Georgia
4/22-4/24		UC Irvine-Arizona
4/26		Houston-Rice
4/26		Oklahoma-Wichita State
4/26		UC Irvine-UCLA
4/26-4/27		Southern Mississippi-Mississippi State
4/27		Alabama-South Alabama
4/27		Nebraska-Wichita State
5/3		Florida-Florida State
5/3		Oklahoma-Wichita State
5/4		Kansas-Wichita State
5/10		Cal State Fullerton-Pepperdine
5/10		Oklahoma State-Oral Roberts
5/10		Texas A&M-Houston
5/10		UC Irvine-UCLA
5/11		Baylor-Rice
5/17		Cal State Fullerton-San Diego
5/17		East Carolina-North Carolina
5/17		Houston-Rice
5/17		Oklahoma State-Wichita State
5/17-5/18		Notre Dame-Southern California

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Boyd's World-> Breadcrumbs Back to Omaha-> Stuff to Look Forward To

About the author, Boyd Nation