The LSU Tigers and the BYU Cougars will meet in the 2017 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff, ESPN and the schools officially announced this afternoon.
The game will be played at NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 and an ESPN network will televise the game to a national audience. LSU and BYU have never met on the gridiron.
“We are excited about the opportunity to return to Houston for the 2017 season opener against BYU,” said Joe Alleva, LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics. “We opened the 2014 season against Wisconsin in NRG Stadium and the turnout and response from our fans far exceeded our expectations.
“Houston is a great city with a huge LSU alumni base and NRG Stadium continues to be one of the great venues for football. We look forward to opening the 2017 season against BYU in Houston in what should be another great start to the football season.”
LSU was previously scheduled to open the 2017 season at home against Georgia Southern. That game will be moved to another Saturday in 2017.
The Tigers are also scheduled to host Syracuse on Sept. 9 and Troy on Sept. 30. The Syracuse game will count towards the SEC’s strength of schedule requirement for that season.
“Any football team or fan who loves the game would be thrilled to have the chance to play a traditional powerhouse like LSU of the SEC in an awesome venue like NRG Stadium,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “We are excited and grateful for the invitation to play in such a great game.”
BYU now has nine or ten games scheduled for the 2017 season depending on the placement of a road contest at UNLV. The Cougars are slated to host rival Utah the week after LSU, and later host Boise State, San Jose State, and UMass.
Road games for BYU in 2017 currently include Utah State, East Carolina, Fresno State, and Hawaii.
The inaugural AdvoCare Texas Kickoff in 2013 featured Oklahoma State and Mississippi State, which was followed by LSU-Wisconsin in 2014. Other scheduled matchups include Texas A&M-Arizona State in 2015 and Oklahoma-Houston in 2016.
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