The Colorado State Rams will play at the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2013 and either the 2015 or 2017 season, CSU announced today.
Colorado State will travel to face Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 21, 2013. The game will be the first ever meeting between the two schools and will pit Bama coach Nick Saban against his former offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, now the head coach of the Rams.
The Rams will also make the trip to Tuscaloosa in either the 2015 or 2017 season. A decision on the date will be announced in the future. Alabama will pay Colorado State $1.5 million for each game
“This will be a great opportunity for our program to go out and play the best,” CSU head coach JimMcElwain said. “The experience of playing Alabama in that environment will help our players and our program as it continues to grow, and we’re looking forward to it. It is another outstanding example of what we’re doing with our program in all aspects. When you come to play football at Colorado State you’re going to get an opportunity not only to be the best, but to play against the best.”
The announcement finalizes Colorado State’s 2013 non-conference schedule. The four other games games are Colorado (8/31; at Denver), at Tulsa (Sept. 7), Cal Poly (Sept. 14), and at UTEP (Sept. 28).
Colorado State is evidently playing a MWC game at Hawaii in 2013, which enables them to play five non-conference games and 13 games overall under the Hawaii Exemption.
As for the Crimson Tide, their 2013 schedule is now complete. The Tide open the 2013 season in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff against Virginia Tech (Aug. 31) and also have non-conference games at home against Georgia State (Oct. 5) and Chattanooga (Nov. 23).
Bama’s SEC slate, which was announced in October, includes home games vs. Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU and road games at Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Auburn.
Football Schedules
Not a shock, a sub .500 MWC/WAC/Sun Belt team and 2 FCS schools is Bama’s OOC every year