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TCU is getting credit across the country for hoarding Power 5 non-conference in the opponents in the coming years. They, along with the majority of the Big 12, are ensuring that they don't get dinged for having a weak out of conference schedule by the playoff committee, should that come under consideration. As of now, here's a list of TCU's future non-conference opponents.
| Year |
Opponent |
| 2015 |
Minnesota, SMU, Stephen F. Austin |
| 2016 | Arkansas, SMU, South Dakota State |
| 2017 | Arkansas, SMU |
| 2018 | Ohio State, SMU |
| 2019 | Ohio State |
| 2020 | California |
| 2021 | California |
| 2022 | Colorado |
| 2023 | Colorado |
| 2024 | Stanford |
| 2027 | Stanford |
By the Stanford game in 2027 I will be entering my 40s, so let's not even talk about that right now okay? Ok. Instead, let's focus on improving the non-conference schedule even more. Think scheduling two Power 5 non-conference games in the same season is insane? Think again.
Florida State does it. In 2014 they had three, THREE, Power 5 non-conference teams on their schedule: Oklahoma State, Florida, and Notre Dame. You can make an argument that Notre Dame doesn't count, but I'm counting them. Notre Dame has committed, with its switch to the ACC for its other sports, to play ACC teams in place of most Big Ten teams it used to play. But, it counts as non-conference. As for future schedules, the Seminoles will square off against Ole Miss and Florida in 2016, and Notre Dame and Florida in 2018.
Michigan does it too. In 2014 the Wolverines had both Notre Dame and Utah on the schedule. The Wolverines have at least one P5 team on their OOC schedule through 2027, and have two (Virginia Tech, Washington) on the docket in 2021.
Need more examples? Here's a list of other P5 schools with multiple non-conference P5 teams scheduled for the same year.
| Team | Year | Opponents |
| Iowa | 2015 | Iowa State, Pitt |
| Northwestern | 2015 | Stanford, Duke |
| Texas | 2015-16 | Notre Dame, California |
| USC | 2016 | Notre Dame, Alabama |
| Georgia | 2016 | North Carolina, Georgia Tech |
| Virginia Tech | 2016 | Notre Dame, Tennessee |
| Duke | 2016 | Notre Dame, Northwestern |
| Duke | 2017-18 | Northwestern, Baylor |
| USC | 2017-18 | Notre Dame, Texas |
| Texas | 2017-18 | Maryland, USC |
| Ohio State | 2018 | Oregon State, TCU |
| Miami | 2018 | LSU, Rutgers |
So who else should TCU schedule? Their non-conference slots are all filled for 2015 and 2016 (although, I wouldn't mind seeing the Frogs drop SFA, would you?). But starting in 2017, here are a few schools who still have open slots that line up with TCU.
| Year | Teams |
| 2017 | Florida State, Georgia Tech, Nebraska |
| 2018 | Georgia Tech, Auburn, Oregon, Penn State |
| 2019 | Utah, Florida State, Auburn, Oregon |
| 2020 | Utah, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska |
| 2021 | Missouri, NC State, Penn State |
Obviously this is an incomplete list, but it's something to consider. There are some decent teams on that list that could seriously bolster TCU's strength of schedule, and all of whom TCU could probably beat (as currently constructed).
Thoughts? Do you want TCU playing more than one OOC P5 opponent in a single season?