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Bama News
Sankey: 'Opportunities will be there' for UA to replace USC game
The Pac-12 announced last week it would be playing a conference-only schedule this season, and as a result, Alabama’s season-opening game against the USC Trojans.
247sports.com
The Pac-12 announced last week it would be playing a conference-only schedule this season, and as a result, Alabama’s season-opening game against the USC Trojans on Sept. 5 -- one of the most anticipated games on the college football calendar -- will not be played.
That left the Crimson Tide with a hole to fill on its 2020 schedule, at least at the moment, as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said on Monday the league has not yet reached a decision on moving to a conference-only format, despite the Pac-12 and Big Ten already doing so.
Sankey appeared on Outkick the Coverage on FOX Sports Radio on Wednesday morning and was asked by host Clay Travis if it was expected that Alabama and Texas A&M -- who also saw a game against the Pac-12 disappear -- would replace those non-conference games.
“The opportunities will be there,” Sankey said. “We’re not alone in having lost non-conference games because of other conference decisions, and so, all of these football programs that have lost opportunities are now looking for games, as well. The good news is, even though we’ve had those two that have slipped away, there will be opportunities for both Alabama and A&M to find other opponents should they move down that pathway.”
Travis followed up by asking the commissioner if Alabama and/or Texas A&M would announce that on their own, should one or both schools end up adding a non-conference matchup.
“We’ve talked about the interest and opportunities,” Sankey said. “I’ve not asked them, ‘When will you make this decision? And when that might be announced?’ The honest, direct answer is that I don’t know when they’ll make the decision and I don’t when they’ll announce, but I’m certain if they do make that additional game happen that we’ll hear about it in the right time frame.”
One possible opponent that has been rumored throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is TCU, as the Horned Frogs were scheduled to play Cal on Sept. 5 until the Pac-12’s decision to go with a conference-only slate. UA athletic director Greg Byrne said the rumors were the first he’s heard of it, while head coach Nick Saban mentioned it as a possibility later in the month.
“Let’s just take the scenario of what if they can’t play in California or they say they can’t play in California,” said Saban in a conversation with Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley. “Well, we play USC the first game. TCU plays Cal, for example, the first game. So, what if they can’t play in California, but we can play, aight? Well, we obviously can’t play a game, maybe we play TCU instead of Southern Cal because they can’t play a California school, as well.”
