A Look Ahead: Baylor's Potential Future Non-Conference Opponents

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>&quot;We have a couple conversations going on, but more years down the road.&quot; - McCaw on non-conference schedule</p>&mdash; Baylor Football (@BUFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/BUFootball/status/539504000505098240">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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Baylor plays Duke in 2017 and 2018. Other than that, they do not have a single Power Five opponent on the docket through 2021. With all the talk of Strength of Schedule and so forth, Baylor needs to bump up their OOC resume. Now, McCaw said that there were talks for games "more years down the road", meaning that the 2015 schedule is unlikely to change. Regardless, I went ahead and looked at it anyway. Here are the teams that I think could easily be scheduled (assuming dropping FCS or low-FBS schools is easy).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Going through P12 teams that don&#39;t have a P5 opponent in future years:&#10;Oregon in &#39;18, &#39;19.&#10;OSU in &#39;19 on.&#10;Zona in &#39;17, &#39;19, &#39;21.&#10;Utah w/ BYU</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539507100687142913">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ACC:&#10;BC: &#39;16, &#39;18, &#39;20, &#39;21&#10;FSU: &#39;19, &#39;20&#10;Louis: &#39;15-7 (only UK)&#10;NCSU: &#39;15, &#39;16,7 (only ND)</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539508476062355457">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ACC:&#10;BC: &#39;16, &#39;18, &#39;20, &#39;21&#10;FSU: &#39;19, &#39;20&#10;Louis: &#39;15-7 (only UK)&#10;NCSU: &#39;15, &#39;16,7 (only ND)</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539508476062355457">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>B1G:&#10;IU: &#39;15,6 (only Wake), onward is free&#10;Mary: &#39;15,6&#10;UM: &#39;16 (only Colorado)&#10;PSU: Lots of options&#10;Illinois: &#39;15 (only UNC)</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539511167333302272">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>B1G:&#10;Iowa (only have ISU)&#10;Minn: &#39;18-20&#10;Neb: &#39;18,9 (only Colo)&#10;Purdue: &#39;16,9</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539512061311479808">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>SEC:&#10;UF: &#39;15,6,9,20 (only FSU)&#10;GA: &#39;15,6,8 (only GT)&#10;UK: All (only Louis)&#10;SC: &#39;16+ (only Clem)&#10;UT: &#39;17,19, 20 (&#39;16 only has VT)&#10;Vandy: &#39;15+</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539513473592332288">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>SEC:&#10;Bama: &#39;17&#10;Ark: &#39;20&#10;Aub: &#39;18,21&#10;LSU: &#39;15 (only Cuse)&#10;MSU: &#39;15-7&#10;Miss: &#39;15, &#39;17+&#10;aggy: &#39;20-&#39;23</p>&mdash; DerBereitFürKSUBär (@DerBaylorBaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DerBaylorBaer/status/539514249467289600">December 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

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I will skip over 2015 for the reason above and 2017-2018 because we already have Duke there.

As you can see, there are plenty of options for 2016. I think the easiest option would be to schedule Penn State in 2016. With all due respect to Kent State and Northwestern State, both teams can do a lot better. Penn State would give Baylor a well-known opponent that they should be able to beat, but no one can claim is utterly horrendous.

Other options for 2016 is Mississippi State. The Bulldogs OOC schedule is even worse than Baylor's, so you know they're wanting to improve that. Almost the entire SEC East is in need of a good OOC opponent in 2016 as well.

Looking at 2019 and on, the possibilities are almost limitless. Oregon is 2019 is the obvious one fans of offense want to see, but Arizona is also a good, available Pac 12 team. In the B1G, Minnesota could be set up nicely for a 2019-2020 home-and-home. Other solid options for home-and-home series in those two years are Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Florida would be my choice simply because of the recruiting that is to be had in Florida. There's always that school down Highway 6 too; they need opponents for 2020-2023...

Until the program announces anything, we won't know what McCaw has up his sleeve, though it is fun to speculate. I would love to see Baylor play a mid-tier team from a Power Five conference that we should beat easily but still get credit for beating them. Also Oregon because POINTS FOR DAYSSSSSSSSS.

Who do you want to see Baylor schedule?