The 2006 Non-Conference Schedule

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Publication Date: November 8, 2005

That Time of Year

OK, I know the drill. You don't want to know about the weather in Birmingham (pretty but cooler the last couple of days, although still nice, since we had record highs earlier in the week) or how my kids are doing (great but busy) or my Seasonal Affective Disorder (pretty bad this year by my standards, but I'm coping and should be OK in a few days); you just want to know who's playing who this year as we all cling to hope for a couple more months. So, here goes:

2/3 - 2/5		Cal State Fullerton at Stanford
2/3 - 2/5		California at UC Irvine
2/3 - 2/5		Southern California vs Long Beach State
2/3 - 2/5		UC Riverside at San Francisco
2/3 - 2/5		Winthrop at Miami, Florida
2/7		Loyola Marymount at UC Irvine
2/7		San Francisco at California
2/7		Southern California at UC Riverside
2/10 - 2/12		Arizona at UC Riverside
2/10 - 2/12		Cal Poly at Loyola Marymount
2/10 - 2/12		Florida State at Auburn
2/10 - 2/12		Long Beach State at California
2/10 - 2/12		Northwestern State at Texas A&M
2/10 - 2/12		Winthrop at Alabama
2/12		Rice vs Texas Christian
2/12		Texas vs Tulane
2/14		Long Beach State at Pepperdine
2/17 - 2/19		California at Baylor
2/17 - 2/19		Florida at Miami, Florida
2/17 - 2/19		Oregon State at Pepperdine
2/17 - 2/19		Texas at Stanford
2/17		Arkansas vs Texas Christian
2/17		Nebraska vs North Carolina State
2/17		Oklahoma at Rice
2/17		Southern Mississippi vs Wichita State
2/18		Long Beach State at Rice
2/18		Vanderbilt at Southern California
2/19		Long Beach State vs Oklahoma
2/21		Coastal Carolina at North Carolina
2/21		UC Riverside at Loyola Marymount
2/24 - 2/26		Arizona State at Baylor
2/24 - 2/26		Pepperdine at Tulane
2/24		Georgia Tech vs Tennessee
2/24		Missouri at Florida
2/25		Nebraska at Rice
2/25		Tennessee at Coastal Carolina
2/26		Georgia Tech at Coastal Carolina
2/28		Arkansas vs Washington
2/28		Cal State Fullerton at Pepperdine
2/28		Florida State at Florida
2/28		Wichita State at Oklahoma

3/2 - 3/4		Georgia at Southern California
3/3 - 3/5		Auburn at Arizona State
3/3 - 3/5		Baylor at Long Beach State
3/3 - 3/5		Cal State Fullerton at Rice
3/3 - 3/5		Northwestern State at Louisiana-Lafayette
3/3 - 3/5		Texas A&M at Florida
3/3 - 3/5		UC Riverside at Oklahoma
3/3		Clemson at College of Charleston
3/4 - 3/5		Clemson vs South Carolina
3/7		Creighton at Vanderbilt
3/7		Long Beach State at Loyola Marymount
3/7		Oklahoma at Texas Christian
3/7		Texas at Rice
3/7		Tulane at Louisiana State
3/7		UC Irvine at Southern California
3/10 - 3/12		Alabama at Nebraska
3/10 - 3/12		Arizona at Mississippi State
3/10 - 3/12		Long Beach State at Texas
3/10		Pacific at Baylor
3/10		Rice vs Texas Christian
3/11		Arizona State vs Rice
3/11		Louisiana-Lafayette vs Texas A&M
3/12		Arizona State vs Texas Christian
3/14		UC Irvine at Loyola Marymount
3/14		Winthrop at Florida State
3/15		Southern Mississippi at Alabama
3/17 - 3/19		Cal State Fullerton at Arizona
3/17 - 3/19		Oklahoma at Arizona State
3/17 - 3/19		Pacific vs California
3/17 - 3/19		Wichita State at Long Beach State
3/18 - 3/20		Cal Poly at Washington
3/21		Pepperdine at Cal State Fullerton
3/21		Southern California at Loyola Marymount
3/21		Texas Christian at Baylor
3/22		Rice at Texas
3/25 - 3/26		Loyola Marymount at UC Riverside
3/25 - 3/26		UC Irvine at Arizona
3/28		Arkansas at Wichita State
3/28		Cal State Fullerton at Loyola Marymount
3/28		Clemson at Georgia
3/28		Oregon State at Pacific
3/28		Pepperdine at Southern California
3/28		Southern Mississippi at Mississippi
3/29		Georgia at Clemson
3/29		Oregon State at San Francisco

4/4		Baylor at Texas Christian
4/4		Creighton vs Nebraska
4/4		Louisiana-Lafayette at Northwestern State
4/4		Mississippi vs Southern Mississippi
4/4		Rice at Texas A&M
4/4		Winthrop at College of Charleston
4/5		Clemson at South Carolina
4/5		Stanford at Pacific
4/11		College of Charleston at Winthrop
4/11		Northwestern State at Louisiana State
4/11		Rice at Baylor
4/11		San Francisco at Stanford
4/11		Texas Christian at Oklahoma
4/11		UC Riverside at Southern California
4/12		Georgia at Georgia Tech
4/12		South Carolina at Clemson
4/18		Creighton at Nebraska
4/18		Louisiana State at Tulane
4/18		Loyola Marymount at Cal State Fullerton
4/18		Rice at Oklahoma
4/18		Southern California at UC Irvine
4/18		Winthrop at Clemson
4/19		Florida at Florida State
4/25 - 4/26		Mississippi State at Southern Mississippi
4/25		California at San Francisco
4/25		Creighton vs Missouri
4/25		Loyola Marymount at Southern California
4/25		Northwestern State at Tulane
4/25		Wichita State at Nebraska
4/26		Georgia Tech at Georgia
4/27		Cal Poly at Oregon State
4/29		Cal Poly at Oregon State

5/2		Oklahoma at Wichita State
5/2		Pepperdine at Long Beach State
5/9		Florida State at Florida
5/9		Loyola Marymount at Long Beach State
5/9		UC Riverside at Pepperdine
5/10		Georgia vs Georgia Tech
5/10		Southern California at Cal State Fullerton
5/10		Winthrop at North Carolina
5/16		College of Charleston at Clemson
5/16		Creighton vs Nebraska
5/16		Louisiana State vs Rice
5/16		Northwestern State at Louisiana-Lafayette
5/16		Southern California at Pepperdine
5/19 - 5/21		Southern California at Wichita State
5/19 - 5/21		Washington at Pacific
5/23		Cal State Fullerton at Southern California
5/23		Pacific at Stanford

Florida State at Auburn? Vanderbilt and Georgia at USC West? Missouri at Florida? Auburn at Arizona State? TAMU at Florida? Arizona at Mississippi State? Alabama AT Nebraska? It's too early to run meaningful strength of schedule numbers yet, but we may be witnessing a sea change here, folks. It may be due to increasing budgets or an acknowledgement of the five-year title drought (or some combination of those and other factors), but it's good news for the fans. The FSU-Auburn series is encouraging because one of the easy complaints about SEC and ACC schedules has been that they didn't play each other enough -- it's a good thing to encourage natural rivalries like this one and unnatural-but-real-due-to-past-postseason ones like Mississippi State-North Carolina.
The aforementioned Alabama-Nebraska series and what's turning into an annual Southern California jaunt to the midwest strikes me as the vanguard of a positive trend of warm-weather teams making visits to colder climes later in the season.
If the breakouts last year by San Francisco and California turn out to continue, it'll make mid-weeks around the Bay Area a lot more fun to watch, as shown in the schedule here.

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