As the college football world awaits official words on Alabama’s matchup with the East Coast FSU, confirmation has come on a future game involving the FSU on the other side of the country.
Following up on speculation that surfaced over the weekend, Alabama confirmed that it has reached an agreement for a one-off game with Fresno State. The game will be played Sept. 9, 2017, and will, of course, be played at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
That 2017 game will mark the first-ever between the two football programs.
The Bulldogs, who will reportedly be paid $1.4 million for the trip to Tuscaloosa, have played four games against current SEC teams who were members of that conference when the game was played: Auburn (1996), Tennessee (2003) and Ole Miss (2010-11). Fresno, which also has a game scheduled with Ole Miss this season, is 0-4 in those games.
The Tide, meanwhile, has played seven games vs. Mountain West members, all of which have come since the turn of the century: Hawaii (2002-03, 2006), Utah State (2004-05), San Jose State (2010) and Colorado State (2013). UA has won six of those seven contests, with the lone loss (37-29) coming on the road to Hawaii in 2003.
Like Fresno, ‘Bama has a future MWC game on its slate: Colorado State in Week 3 of the 2017 season. That’s the same year UA is expected to open the season on a neutral field against Florida State.