TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When the University of Alabama Crimson Tide kick off the 2015 college football season in Cowboys Stadium against the Wisconsin Badgers, the thousands of fans in attendance will have paid an average of $376.82—the highest ticket price for a non-conference matchup next season.
As college football analysis website Saturday Down South puts it, “The out-of-conference schedules for college football teams are a delicate situation. On one hand, teams from the power five conferences do not want to add more difficulty to their grueling conference schedules, where one loss can take a team out of the National Championship conversation. On the other hand, teams want the chance to take on the best programs in the country and prove they belong in the conversation about who is the best of the best in college football.”
This year the Crimson Tide will face four out-of-conference opponents, and while the September 5th opener against the Wisconsin Badgers is expected to be the toughest of those, teams have often been caught off guard against “cupcake” teams when the players go into the games with a “get it over with” mindset.
On September 26th UA will play against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, who famously upset the Tide in 2007—Coach Nick Saban’s first year.
Auburn University also begins its season with a non-conference opponent, playing the Louisville Cardinals at the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta in what happens to be the second-most expensive non-conference ticket, before taking on three other out of conference teams later in the season.
The third most expensive non-conference tickets will be sold to yet another SEC team, the South Carolina Gamecocks, in their rivalry-week battle against the Clemson Tigers.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
