The LSU Tigers and the Syracuse Orange have finalized a home-and-home football series for 2015 and 2017.
News of the series was first reported last month by CBSSports.com. Then, in a release announcing a series vs. UCLA, LSU acknowledged the series with the Orange was close to being finalized.
Syracuse will host the first game of the series at the Carrier Dome on Sept. 26, 2015. LSU will host the second and final game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Sept. 9, 2017.
“It is a great opportunity to match the tradition of our program against the storied tradition of LSU,” said head coach Scott Shafer. “As members of the Atlantic Coast Conference we play some of the best teams in the country. This is a chance for our student-athletes to play against the one of best outside of our conference. I know they will be juiced up to have the opportunity for our fans to come to the Carrier Dome to watch some great football in a matchup of the ACC and the SEC.”
LSU and Syracuse have met twice in their history, both in postseason bowl games. LSU defeated Syracuse 13-10 in the 1965 Sugar Bowl, and then the Orange evened the series with a 23-10 victory in the 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl.
“This is another attractive non-conference series that our fans will enjoy and our football program will benefit from,” LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said. “To be able to bring LSU football to the northeast part of the country for a football game will be a unique experience and then to have Syracuse return the trip to Tiger Stadium in 2017 will be a nice addition to our home schedule.”
LSU also announced today that they will open the 2015 season at Tiger Stadium against the McNeese State Cowboys on Sept. 5.
The addition of Syracuse and McNeese State tentatively completes LSU’s 2015 non-conference football schedule. The Tigers are also set to play Eastern Michigan (Oct. 3) and Western Kentucky (Nov. 14), both in Baton Rouge.
In 2017, the Tigers have four games, all of which are slated for Death Valley — Georgia Southern (Sept. 2), Troy (Sept. 30), and NC State (TBA). The NC State game was previously set for Sept. 9 and, with Syracuse taking that date, may be moved to a future season.
Syracuse currently only has one other non-conference game announced for both the 2015 and 2017 seasons. The Orange are slated to host Central Michigan in 2015 (Sept. 19) and then again in 2017 on a date to be announced.
Football Schedules