There was a flurry of Alabama scheduling news on Saturday. First, it was reported that Alabama is in discussions with Notre Dame for a home-and-home series at an undisclosed date in the future. That report sparked a second item that the Tide is also reportedly discussing a home-and-home with Texas as well.
In a response to our tweet about such reports, Birmingham media personality Jim Dunaway tweeted the following:
My sources tell me Alabama vs. USC in Dallas to start the 2020 season and a later Home-and-Home with Texas is also in the works.@AlabamaFTBL #RollTide @TexasFootball @USC_Athletics https://t.co/UZzgeYHszq
— Jim Dunaway (@jimdunaway) March 24, 2018
Dunaway’s report has not been confirmed, but it passes the smell test. The Dallas kickoff game -- officially known as the Advocare Classic -- does not have a 2020 matchup lined up. LSU and Miami will meet at AT&T Stadium to open the upcoming season and Auburn-Oregon is set for 2019, but the 2020 date remains open. Further, Alabama does not have an opening week game on its ’20 slate and neither does USC, according to FBSchedules.
A 2020 game would, of course, be a rematch to the 2016 Advocare Classic, when the Tide stomped a pre-Sam Darnold USC outfit, 52-6.
Alabama helped start the modern tradition of neutral site openers and has been a near-annual participant ever since -- which is why yesterday’s reports that AD Greg Byrne is looking away from such games was such big news. The Tide is 8-0 in neutral site openers, winning by an average score of 36-14. Alabama meets Louisville in Orlando on Sept. 1 of this year, and also has meetings with Duke (Aug. 31, 2019) and Miami (Sept. 4, 2021) in Atlanta in the offing.
Alabama is 4-0 all-time at AT&T Stadium, with a 41-14 win over Michigan and a 35-17 defeat of Wisconsin in addition to its USC blowout in previous Advocare Classics and a 38-0 blanking of Michigan State in the 2015 Cotton Bowl. USC is 0-2 at AT&T Stadium, falling 24-7 to Ohio State in the most recent Cotton Bowl in addition to the Alabama loss of 2016.
The Trojans have home dates with New Mexico (Sept. 19) and Notre Dame (Nov. 28) lined up for 2020.