ASU opens revised Pac-12 football schedule vs. UA
There may or may not be a college football season, but the Arizona State Sun Devils now have a firm date and plan to work toward. And what a way to open.
The Sun Devils will begin play against rival Arizona on Sept. 26 in Tucson. The rivalry game has usually been the last of the regular season for both schools. Among the other openers is USC vs. UCLA.
It will be the earliest meeting on record between the in-state rivals and will mark only the third time two schools have played in the month of September (played on Sept. 28 in 1935 and 1946, both in Tucson) and the fifth time the Sun Devils will face Arizona in their season opener (1915, 1919, 1935, 1937).
It wasn’t necessarily the fact that those games don’t require plane trips that prompted the early scheduling.
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said the biggest factor in putting those rivalry games first is that the schools are in hot spots for the coronavirus and putting them first gives more flexibility if they have to be rescheduled. Four teams have bye weeks on Oct 17, four more on Oct. 24 and four more Oct. 31 with Nov. 12 being a common open date.
Asked how confident he was that there would be a college football season, Scott couldn’t offer much reassurance.
“I don’t know. I think we’re all trying to take it a step at a time,” he said. “I think we’re all cautiously optimistic. There are a lot of elements out of our control. There are things that are going
to happen over which we have no influence.”
The Pac-12 announced last month it would go to a conference-only schedule for football but today released a complete rundown on who is playing who, when and where. The schedule was voted on by school administrators earlier in the day.
Each team previously played games and each will now play 10.
ASU, which is coming off an 8-5 showing in 2019 that included a Sun Bowl victory, picked up Stanford so the only conference opponent it will not face in the coming season will be Washington. The other nine opponents haven’t changed, nor have the sites - only the dates.
ASU’s home games will be against Utah, UCLA, California, Stanford and Oregon State while road games will be at Oregon, USC, Colorado, Washington State and Arizona.
Conference representatives unveiled the new plan to the media Friday afternoon over a Zoom call that included Scott, Arizona State Athletic Director Ray Anderson, Stanford football coach David Shaw and Oregon State Senior Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Dr. Doug Aukerman.
The Pac-12 is the complete schedule.
The Pac-12 title game has been moved back two weeks to Dec. 19, with the highest-seeded team hosting. The original plan had that game being held in Las Vegas at the new stadium to be used by the NFL’s Raiders but the move to an on-campus site gives schools more control and flexibility. The move of the game to Las Vegas will now take place in 2021.
Scott added that there will be no conference mandate on whether spectators would be allowed at games. He said he will leave such decisions to health and governing officials in the areas of the schools.
Anderson added that the collaboration between the schools resulted in a schedule that was workable for all.
nine
conference
first conference to announce a
2020 ASU football schedule
Sept. 26 – at Arizona
Oct. 3 – Stanford
Oct. 9 – at Oregon
Oct. 17 – bye
Oct. 24 – UCLA
Oct. 31 – at Colorado
Nov. 7 – Utah
Nov. 14 – at Washington State
Nov. 21 – at USC
Nov. 28 – California
Dec. 5 – Oregon State
Dec. 18 or 19 – Pac-12 Championship Game
2020 UA football schedule
Sept. 26: Arizona State
Oct. 3: at Washington
Oct. 10: Colorado
Oct. 17: Bye
Oct. 24: USC
Oct. 31: at Utah
Nov. 7: at Oregon State
Nov. 14: California
Nov. 20 (Friday): Oregon
Nov 28: at UCLA
Dec. 5: at Stanford
“It’s been exhausting,” he said. “The thing that has been most impressive to me is that you have different things happening in different places in this conference but we came together and got to a good place for all of us. It gives us a lot of confidence there can be a season.”
The original schedule had ASU opening the Pac-12 season against South Division favorite USC on Sept. 26 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with non-conference games at home on Sept. 3 against Northern Arizona, at UNLV on Sept. 12 and home against Brigham Young on Sept. 19.
ASU’s bye originally was on Oct. 17, just ahead of a game at Colorado.
Teams can start training camp on Aug. 17 although that will still be strength and conditioning work.