The Alabama Crimson Tide have made neutral-site season-opening games a staple on their football schedule. Now it looks like they have another one, and it could be one of their biggest yet.
According to Tony DiFrancisco, there is a rumor that Alabama may open the 2016 season against the USC Trojans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Besides matching two historic programs and two conferences that don’t meet in a set bowl game, an Alabama-USC game could also offer another storyline — former USC head coach Lane Kiffin is now the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide.
Speaking with reporters today, Alabama head coach Nick Saban spoke about future neutral-site games for the Crimson Tide.
“Yeah, we’re always looking,” Saban said. “But not anything I can share with you right now. I don’t think we want to create speculation. We’re playing Wisconsin in Dallas the next year (2015), and we were supposed to play Penn State in 2016, they bailed out on us, so we’re looking for an opponent to play somewhere in 2016 right now.”
Alabama currently has no announced games for the 2016 season. USC is scheduled to open the season against New Mexico on Sept. 3, but the Trojans can move or cancel that contest.
Alabama is already scheduled to open the 2015 season in Arlington against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Crimson Tide open this season vs. West Virginia in the second Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
If Alabama does play USC in 2016, it will be their seventh season-opening neutral-site game under Saban. Bama played Clemson in 2008, Virginia Tech in 2009 and 2013, and Michigan in 2012.
Football Schedules