Remaining Options To Pick Up On 2020 BYU Football Schedule

PROVO, Utah – We sit a little less than two weeks to the start of the 2020 BYU football season and the schedule has yet to be finalized. The work to get to a total of eight games at this point has been an impressive feat, but will they get to a full 12-game schedule?

What are the latest options out there for BYU to get up to 10, 11, or even a full 12-game schedule?

2020 BYU Football Schedule

As of August 27th, 2020

Sept. 7th – at Navy

Sept 12th – OPEN

Sept. 19th – at Army West Point

Sept. 26th – TROY

Oct. 2/3 – OPEN

Oct. 10th – UTSA

Oct. 16th – HOUSTON

Oct. 24th – TEXAS STATE

Oct. 31st – WESTERN KENTUCKY

Nov. 7th – OPEN

Nov. 14th – OPEN

Nov. 21st – NORTH ALABAMA

Nov. 28th – OPEN

The week two open date likely remains a bye but we will factor in teams that have September 12th openings for this piece.

Power 5 games are basically gone

With Notre Dame announcing their one non-conference game against USF for September 19th, there are only two ACC teams remaining who don’t have a non-conference game scheduled for 2020. That’s Boston College and Bronco Mendenhall’s Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia is not expected to replace the lost non-conference game against VMI according to Mendenhall.

“The latest I heard is it’s likely that we will not replace VMI. That’s the latest I’ve heard and so that would lead to an opening game versus Virginia Tech. Again, it’s not definitive yet. Latest I’ve heard though is that’s the direction where we’re headed,” said Mendenhall.

The Big 12 is full and the SEC is going to a Conference-Only schedule that begins on September 26th.

The month of December has to be considered

With the College Football Playoff committee announcing they will have their selection day on December 20th, it opens up the opportunity for games to potentially be scheduled on December 5th or December 12th. The AAC and Conference-USA have scheduled their conference championship games for December 5th, but they could be moved back to as late as December 19th.

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The dates for the 2020 @CFBPlayoff selection committee rankings have been announced!

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Details » https://t.co/gRe4sLdwKX#CFBPlayoff • #NationalChampionship 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/EyaJg4TMuV

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) August 24, 2020

That opens dates in December for games that have been postponed or non-conference matchups with a program like BYU.

Something to keep in mind with possible December games is finals week for the players. BYU’s fall semester has finals week scheduled to take place from December 12th, 14th-17th.

American Athletic Conference

This is the league that poses the most attractive options remaining. No one would be opposed to some late additions with programs from the AAC. Eight of the AAC’s 11 teams have yet to schedule a full 12-game schedule. Two already have BYU on their schedules (Navy and Houston).

Here are the open dates that AAC teams currently have in the regular 13-week schedule that would fit for BYU. Everyone in the AAC except SMU (full 12 game schedule already) has openings in December if needed.

• Cincinnati: Sept. 12th
• Memphis: Sept. 12th
• Temple: Oct. 3rd (Likely not starting regular season until September 26th, looking for one or two OOCs)
• Tulane: Oct. 3rd
• UCF: Sept. 12th, Nov. 7th
• USF: Sept. 12th

Temple would make a lot of sense for BYU to add in the General Conference weekend spot on October 3rd. Making a road game to Florida in November or December to play UCF would be a great pickup as well for BYU.

Conference-USA

A lot of moving pieces to juggle within the “CU-SA”. Old Dominion opted out of the season leaving C-USA East Division only needing 11 regular-season games to have a full schedule. FIU and Rice have both postponed their seasons till September 16th and September 26th respectively.

BYU currently has two games lined up this season against C-USA teams (UTSA and Western Kentucky).

Open dates within the regular 13-week schedule for C-USA teams. Only three C-USA teams currently have a full schedule for the 2020 season and those include Charlotte, Southern Miss, and UTEP.

• Florida Atlantic: Sept 12th
• Marshall: Sept 12th, Nov. 7th, Nov. 28th
• Middle Tennessee: Sept. 12th
• North Texas: Sept. 12th
• UAB: Nov. 7th

Sun Belt Conference

Members of the Sun Belt have quietly done a nice job reloading and getting games added on their 2020 schedule. BYU already has games against Troy and UTSA from the Sun Belt. Leaving eight remaining teams. Of those eight, ULM and Arkansas State already have full 12-game schedules.

ULM at Troy on Sept. 19 postponed to Dec. 5.

As a result, Sun Belt Championship game moved from Dec. 5 to Dec. 12.

— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) August 27, 2020

Only two of the Sun Belt teams have openings that would fit on BYU’s regular 13-week schedule this fall. Those are a pair of teams in App State and Louisiana who square off the following week on a Wednesday night.

Everyone else in the Sun Belt could be options in the month of December. Coastal Carolina, a Sun Belt team, has a game scheduled against fellow FBS Independent Liberty on December 5th.

The Sun Belt Conference announced on August 27th that its Championship Game would be played on December 12th.

• Appalachian State: Oct. 2nd/3rd (Play a Wednesday night game the following week) / December 5th
• Louisiana: Oct. 2nd/3rd (Play a Wednesday night game the following week) / December 5th
• South Alabama: Dec. 5th
• Georgia State: Dec. 5th
• Georgia Southern: Dec. 5th

FCS

Fifteen teams from the FCS ranks have scheduled games to be played in the fall season. BYU has a November 21st meeting lined up against North Alabama from the Big South Conference. Here are the other teams that have lined up games.

Two games against FCS programs count towards bowl eligibility this season.

• Central Arkansas
• Eastern Kentucky
• Houston Baptist
• Stephen F. Austin
• Austin Peay
• Campbell
• Missouri State
• The Citadel
• Abilene Christian
• Jacksonville State
• Mercer
• Chattanooga
• Western Carolina
• North Dakota State (Plans to play only one game)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.