Alabama and USC Will Open 2016 Season at Cowboys Classic
The University of Alabama football team will open the 2016 season in the Cowboys Classic against Southern California at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The game is scheduled for Saturday, September 3, with information on ticket sales as well as television coverage and kickoff time to be determined at a later date.
The eighth annual Cowboys Classic will be the eighth meeting between these storied programs, and the first regular season match-up since the 1970s when they split four epic battles during the 1970, 1971, 1977 and 1978 seasons. This came at a time in college football history when both universities were fighting for the national title on an annual basis, including a shared title in 1978 – when the only loss on Alabama’s 11-1 record was a 24-14 defeat at the hands of a Trojans team that posted a 12-1 record and won the Rose Bowl. The two schools also squared off in the 1985 Aloha Bowl, with the Crimson Tide winning that contest 24-3. Alabama leads the all-time series 5-2.
Under head coach Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide has played in five previous neutral site regular season games and has two more on the schedule over the next two years. Alabama has a 4-1 mark in these games under Saban, which includes four straight wins. The Tide played Florida State in Jacksonville in 2007 as well as Clemson (2008) and Virginia Tech (2009 and 2013) in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta. UA played in the 2012 Cowboys Classic and defeated Michigan in front of 90,413 fans. Alabama will open the 2014 season in Atlanta with a matchup against West Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff and play Wisconsin on September 5, 2015, in Arlington.
The game will mark the eighth contest in the Cowboys Classic series with ABC/ESPN. Each matchup has featured nationally ranked teams with Brigham Young University upsetting the University of Oklahoma 14-13 in inaugural game in 2009, TCU knocking off Oregon State 30-21 in 2010, LSU defeating Oregon 40-27 in 2011, Alabama downing Michigan 41-14 in 2012 and LSU’s 37-27 victory over TCU in 2013.
Cowboys Classic Results and Future Games
Date Matchup Score Attendance
Sept. 5, 2009 University of Oklahoma vs. Brigham Young University BYU, 14-13 75,437
Sept. 4, 2010 Texas Christian University vs. Oregon State University TCU, 30-21 46,138
Sept. 3, 2011 Louisiana State University vs. University of Oregon LSU, 40-27 87,711
Sept. 1, 2012 University of Alabama vs. University of Michigan Alabama, 41-14 90,413
Aug. 31, 2013 Louisiana State University vs. Texas Christian University LSU, 37-27 80,230
Aug. 30, 2014 Florida State University vs. Oklahoma State University
Sept. 5, 2015 University of Alabama vs. University of Wisconsin
Sept. 3, 2016 University of Alabama vs. University of Southern California
Sept. 2, 2017 University of Florida vs. University of Michigan