The BYU Cougars and the Michigan State Spartans have scheduled a home-and-home football series for 2016 and 2020, both schools announced today.
Michigan State will host the first game of the series at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Oct 8, 2016. BYU will host the second and final game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah on Sept. 12, 2020.
The 2016 contest will be the first ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
“We continue to be aggressive and innovative in our approach to non-conference scheduling, as we seek to bring the top programs in college football to our state as well as provide our student-athletes with an opportunity to compete nationally at the highest level,” Michigan State Athletics Director Mark Hollis said. “The BYU series also provides MSU Alums in the Rockies and West with an opportunity to see the Spartans play against a national program.”
Michigan State was previously scheduled to host Wisconsin on Oct. 8, 2016. That game has been moved to Sept. 24, a date that both teams previously shared as an off week.
The Spartans also moved a previously scheduled game with Furman from Sept. 24 to the season-opener on Sept. 3. Michigan State’s open date in 2016 will now fall on Sept. 10, which is the week before a visit to Notre Dame.
In addition, previously scheduled games against Eastern Michigan at home on Sept. 10, 2016 and on the road on Sept 12, 2020 have been mutually canceled.
BYU also had to shift a couple of games to make way for the series with the Michigan State Spartans. An Oct. 8, 2016 home game vs. UMass is now up in the air, although it will likely just shift dates that season.
Also on the move is a Sept. 12, 2020 home game vs. Arizona. That game could also just be moving to another date during the 2020 season.
“I’m excited about this series with one of the top programs in the Big Ten,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “We haven’t played many games in the Great Lakes region and I like scheduling opponents like Michigan State that we’ve never played in football. It’s exciting for Cougar Nation and it’s a great experience for our coaches and players.”
Football Schedules