As a member of the College Football Playoff committee, West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck understands as well as anyone the importance a team’s strength of schedule plays in the playoff standings.
In an attempt to improve the Mountaineers’ profile, Luck is in the midst of negotiations to schedule a home-and-home series against an SEC opponent, according to the Austin American-Statesman‘s Kirk Bohls.
While Luck didn’t divulge exactly which program the Mountaineers will likely face, Bohls guessed which SEC East team is the most likely candidate:
A series can’t take place any earlier than 2016. The Mountaineers already have three non-conference opponents scheduled for the next two years.
The program is already set to play the Tennessee Volunteers at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte to open the 2018 season, which rules Butch Jones‘ program out. Missouri, meanwhile, has yet to schedule a non-conference game for the 2016 season, and the Tigers have an opening in 2017 as well.
That leaves five other SEC East possibilities. If Missouri is the favorite, the Kentucky Wildcats should be next on the list due to their proximity to West Virginia. The two programs play in border states and recruit similar areas.
With Luck’s insistence to improve West Virginia’s schedule, a series against any of the other SEC East teams can’t be completely ruled out this early in the process.