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Utah State football to play eight Power-5 games over next four years

With the official announcement of Utah State football’s addition of Michigan State to the 2018-19 season schedule, the Aggies are set to play eight Power Five conference games between six different opponents through the next four years and over the next five seasons.

Utah State will face the Spartans for the first time in the season-opener on September 1, 2018, with the game time and broadcast plans announced at a later date.

The Aggies will open this upcoming season against Big Ten Wisconsin, in Madison, on September 1, 2017, and will also take on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Wake Forest on September 16, 2017.

In 2019, the Aggies will travel to play at Wake Forest and will also square off against Southeastern Conference-powerhouse LSU, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2020 season will feature Washington State in Logan, at Maverik Stadium, before the Aggies go on the road to play at Washington, both of which compete in the Pac-12 Conference. The five-year run will come to a close with the Aggies playing at Washington State to complete the two schools’ home-and-home contract.

Utah State is currently 1-13 all-time against current Big-10 programs, 40-124-5 all-time against the Pac-12, 1-17-0 all-time against the SEC and 1-3-0 all-time against the ACC.

The out-of-conference schedule will compound with what should be already be a difficult up-coming season in the Mountain West, as the Aggies will face six bowl teams this year  — Boise State, San Diego State, Wyoming, New Mexico, Hawaii and Air Force.

“As is the case every year in the Mountain West, we have a very challenging task with six bowl teams from our conference on our schedule for the third year in a row,” said fifth-year head coach Matt Wells. “Once again, our fans will have the opportunity to see some high-caliber football in Maverik Stadium as we host five bowl teams from last season and play a total of nine bowl teams overall.”

USU’s scheduling efforts are also being recognized outside of Utah, as the Aggies hold the third-most difficult schedule in the MW this season according to teamrankings.com. ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) also respects the Aggies’ 2017 slate, putting the schedule as the fifth-most difficult in the conference.