By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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LSUs scheduling philosophy is a breath of fresh air in a time when most SEC teams are hesitant to leave the comfortable confines of the South.

In less than two months, SEC coaches, athletic directors and presidents will convene for their annual spring pow-wow along the white sandy beaches of Destin, Fla. The agenda for the SEC Spring Meetings varies from year to year. Expansion, playoffs and the SEC Network are now behind us. This spring, the most urgent matter will be determining if and when the conference goes to a nine-game football schedule.

The SEC remains uncertain of its next step, causing many of the leagues athletic directors to hit the pause button on scheduling future non-conference games. That is, unless youre LSU athletic director Joe Alleva, who has lined up multiple premier opponents for the Tigers.

Alleva added a new name to LSUs upcoming opponents Monday, as the Tigers announced a home-and-home series with UCLA in 2021 (Pasadena) and 2024 (Baton Rouge). LSU also confirmed that its home-and-home series with Arizona State, moved back from later this decade, will be played in 2022 (Tempe) and 2023 (Baton Rouge).

cIts our goal to play as attractive a non-conference schedule as possible,d Alleva said. cGetting teams to agree to a home-and-home series is very difficult but we will continue to make every attempt to bring a BCS-conference caliber opponent to Tiger Stadium.”

The Tigers will begin a hybrid home-and-home with Wisconsin this season when the two tailgating-crazed fanbases collide (for better or for worse) at Reliant Stadium in Houston before heading north to historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay in 2016.

LSU will also play Syracuse in 2015 and 2017, N.C. State in 2017 and 2020, and Oklahoma (dates unconfirmed). In the Les Miles era, the Tigers have previously traveled to Arizona State, Washington and West Virginia.

Most SEC programs have not been as aggressive as the Tigers. With schedule quality likely to take on added importance in the playoff/selection committee era, coaches and athletic directors are hesitant to lock in future opponents until they know if theyre responsible for three non-conference games or four.

Vanderbilt athletic director David Williams told The Tennessean last week that he is hesitant to schedule any non-conference games until the future of the conference schedule is determined.

cWell try to get to a resolution [at the spring meetings] on whether we will have nine or eight games,d Williams said. cWe want to resolve this for a period of time. I dont think its ever resolved forever, but we need to know what its going to be for the next number of years so we can get back to making schedules.d

Of the cPower Fived conferences, three are currently playing or will soon go to nine games. The Pac-12, to combat attendance issues for non-conference games, was the first to go to nine, in 2006. The Big 12 followed suit in 2011 to ensure a full round-robin in its current 10-team structure, and the Big Ten will begin its nine-game schedule in 2016. The ACC remains at eight, but its 14 full members will play non-football member Notre Dame at least once every three seasons.

The merits of both eight and nine games are well-documented. University presidents and television networks will cite the financial benefit to an additional conference game. Most league coaches, other than Alabamas Nick Saban, are content with eight games. That includes the four SEC East programs (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina) who have a permanent rivalry game with an in-state ACC opponent. With a nine-game conference schedule, it would be nearly impossible to ensure seven home games every year for those four schools.

Money generally trumps all in the modern era of college sports. That would favor a move to nine games, but if and when that does take place remains a mystery until formal discussions take place in Destin next month.

LSUs philosophy is a breath of fresh air in a time when most SEC teams are hesitant to leave the comfortable confines of the South. Alabama and Auburn have played just two non-conference road games in the last decade. Home-and-home series have dwindled in favor of the more lucrative neutral-site games that include corporate sponsors, increased premium seating and alcohol sales.

Alleva and Miles willingness to travel is a victory for fans everywhere. Intersectional showdowns on campuses, which helped launch the growth of college football from a regional entity to a national phenomenon, have become a rarity.

Texas A&M is scheduled to visit both Oregon and UCLA before the end of the decade. Arkansas and Missouri will travel to Michigan and Purdue respectively in the coming years. Thats about it for notable games outside of the South for SEC teams after 2014.

While most SEC teams wont follow suit until at least June, there is at least some hope, after Mondays announcement, that LSU has paved the way for the leagues other 13 teams to take a calculated risk and venture both north and west.