LSU has pulled the plug on a future home-and-home with Arizona State, another casualty of college football’s shifting schedule math.
The cancellation, first reported Monday by On3’s Brett McMurphy, comes as the SEC settles into a nine-game league slate and continues requiring teams to line up at least one non-conference game against another Power Four opponent or Notre Dame. That combination has already forced programs to rethink what’s ahead, and it’s led to a growing list of matchups disappearing from the calendar.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressed the move at SEC media days and said the conference believed it was the right call.
“We recognize that a nine-game conference schedule, coupled with our longstanding requirement to play a quality non-conference opponent, creates one of the most demanding schedules in college football," Sankey said. "After years of thoughtful discussion, careful analysis and spirited debate, our membership concluded it was the right decision.”
LSU and Arizona State had already been through plenty of schedule shuffling before this latest cancellation. The teams were originally set to meet in Baton Rouge in 2005, but that game was moved to Arizona State after LSU’s campus was affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The schools were then lined up again for 2015 and 2016, only for LSU to move the 2016 game after choosing to open that season against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.
The series was pushed back once more before the programs finally settled on a 2029 game at LSU and a 2030 return trip to Arizona State. That arrangement is now off the board.
For LSU, it’s one of Lane Kiffin’s first major decisions since arriving in Baton Rouge. The move fits a clear priority: keeping the Tigers positioned for playoff runs in a tougher scheduling environment.
Arizona State’s profile makes the cancellation more notable than a typical non-conference wipeout. The Sun Devils reached the College Football Playoff just two seasons ago, and with Kenny Dillingham still building the program, they should remain a competitive opponent.
Still, the broader trend is hard to miss. As the playoff expands and schedules get tighter, more attractive non-conference games are getting squeezed out. LSU’s decision may make sense in the new reality, but it also strips away another matchup fans could have circled.
That’s the tradeoff college football keeps running into now: more room for playoff positioning, less room for the kinds of games that make the sport feel special.