Joe Burrow found his new home in Baton Rouge, announcing he would transfer to LSU where he would be eligible to play immediately as a graduate transfer.
Ohio State fans interested in his development at LSU, a notorious graveyard for quarterbacks since Jamarcus Russell left the program after the 2006 season, will find several interesting games on the LSU schedule. Assuming Burrow lands the starting job for LSU, Ohio State fans should circle the following games on LSU's schedule.
Miami (Sept. 2)
For one, LSU helpfully scheduled its season-opener for a Sunday this year. It's a marquee matchup too. LSU will play the Miami Hurricanes in the 2018 Advocare Classic. This is the first game between both programs since LSU unceremoniously ended Miami's aura of greatness in the 2005 Peach Bowl in a 40-3 annihilation of the Hurricanes.
Miami does appear to be on the upswing, at long last. It spent more than a decade in the college football wilderness before finding its groove when alumnus Mark Richt returned to Coral Gables to take over the program. His second season in charge landed Miami in the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl, though Miami fans — all 16 of them — will be curious how Richt's program rebounds from three deflating losses to end the season.
| Week | Date | OSU Opponent | Venue | Time | Date | LSU Opponent | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sept 1 | Oregon State | Ohio Stadium | TBA | Sept 2 | Miami (FL) | AT&T Stadium | ABC, 7:30 p.m. |
| 2 | Sept 8 | Rutgers | Ohio Stadium | TBA | Sept 8 | SE Louisiana | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 3 | Sept 15 | TCU | AT&T Stadium | ABC, 8 p.m. | Sept 15 | Auburn | Jordan-Hare Stadium | TBA |
| 4 | Sept 22 | Tulane | Ohio Stadium | TBA | Sept 22 | La Tech | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 5 | Sept 29 | Penn State | Beaver Stadium | TBA | Sept 29 | Ole Miss | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 6 | Oct 6 | Indiana | Ohio Stadium | TBA | Oct 6 | Florida | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium | TBA |
| 7 | Oct 13 | Minnesota | Ohio Stadium | TBA | Oct 13 | Georgia | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 8 | Oct 20 | Purdue | Ross-Ade Stadium | TBA | Oct 20 | Mississippi State | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 9 | Oct 27 | BYE | Oct 27 | BYE | ||||
| 10 | Nov 3 | Nebraska | Ohio Stadium | TBA | Nov 3 | Alabama | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 11 | Nov 10 | Michigan State | Spartan Stadium | TBA | Nov 10 | Arkansas | D.W.R. Razorback Stadium | TBA |
| 12 | Nov 17 | Maryland | Maryland Stadium | TBA | Nov 17 | Rice | Tiger Stadium | TBA |
| 13 | Nov 24 | Michigan | Ohio Stadium | FOX (TBA ) | Nov 24 | Texas A&M | Kyle Field | TBA |
Auburn (Sept. 15)
There's little room for rest after LSU's season-opener against Miami. LSU gets an abbreviated rest to devour an FCS snack before traveling again the next week to SEC West champion Auburn. The SEC has numerous marquee series, especially concentrated in the SEC West division. This is one of them.
The balance has favored LSU of late even if we note Auburn has been the stronger program at the same time. LSU is 7-3 in the last 10 games between these two. LSU even won last year's encounter in Baton Rouge. It was the only regular-season conference loss for Auburn last year.
It is difficult to imagine, though, that Ohio State fans will have an opportunity to watch this game. Ohio State plays TCU at AT&T Stadium the same day with a dedicated 8 p.m. kickoff. Unless CBS takes this LSU-Auburn game for a 3:30 time slot, expect this game to run concurrent to the Ohio State-TCU game.
Florida (Oct. 6), Georgia (Oct. 13)
LSU-Florida is always a wild series and easily the SEC's biggest cross-division attraction. Florida could conceivably do well in Dan Mullen's first year with the program. However, we'll highlight both the games against Florida and Georgia in this section.
Georgia might be the bigger game of the two even if LSU gets to host the Bulldogs the week after traveling to Gainesville. Georgia is the reigning SEC champion and was only narrowly dispatched by Alabama in the national championship game. The Bulldogs lost some key players from last year's team but its trajectory is clearly positive.
Further, Ohio State fans could conceivably make time to see these two. Ohio State's two opponents those weeks are Indiana and Minnesota. Expect those Big Ten games to be noon or 3:30 kickoffs. Recent history suggests LSU-Florida is, in all likelihood, a 3:30 kickoff on CBS but that LSU-Georgia game has an 8 p.m. CBS time slot written all over it.
Alabama (Nov. 3)
Auburn might politely object to this statement but this could well be the game that decides the SEC West.
LSU-Alabama has been a sizzling, if routinely clumsy and ham-handed, rivalry since Nick Saban returned to the college ranks in 2007. Alabama's stature as cream of the crop needs no further clarification. Joe Burrow will be afforded an opportunity to knock Alabama off the top of the rankings as a prospective starting quarterback for the Tigers.
There is one catch for the Ohio State fan interested in this matchup. It's almost guaranteed an 8 p.m. slot on CBS. It almost always is. Ohio State's matchup against Scott Frost's visiting Cornhuskers will probably command a similar kickoff as well.
