With just a little over six months until the 2013 season kicks off, an FBS football program in Texas has found itself with an unexpected hole in its schedule for the upcoming year thanks to a hankering for an FCS creampuff.
Montana State had announced Tuesday that it has scheduled a game for Sept. 7, 2013, against SMU. The only problem with that? SMU’s non-conference schedule was already full, and full of in-state opponents at that.
The Mustangs had been scheduled to host Texas Tech on Aug. 31 and Baylor on Sept. 14, while they were slated to travel to Texas A&M on Sept. 21 and TCU on Sept. 28. With eight Big East games on tap, and with the addition of FCS-level Montana State, SMU was forced to drop one of those four FBS teams from its schedule. The team on the receiving end of the abrupt boot? The Bears of Baylor.
Simply put, the decision to add Montana State and drop Baylor was done to soften SMU’s 2013 schedule.
“While this is a rivalry that both schools value, we decided it would be best if we did not play this season,” said SMU athletic director Rick Hart in a statement. “This was not an easy decision and was made only after careful deliberation. With three Big 12 games and one SEC matchup on our nonconference schedule and an upgraded conference schedule as we join the Big East, we felt we needed to bring some balance to our 2013 schedule.
“This decision does not, however, impact our long-term agreement. We will play at Baylor in 2014 when they open their new stadium and have them scheduled for annual games for numerous years.”
Baylor has yet to address the unexpected hole in its schedule, let alone made known its plans to fill it. The good news for the Bears is that they don’t have an FCS school scheduled in 2013; given the short time frame between now and the start of the 2013 season, they won’t have much of a choice but to look to a lower level to fill in the schedule.