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Report: Michigan to pay steep price to host Sun Belt foe in 2020
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Michigan is reportedly dropping some serious dough on a 2020 opponent.
According to a report from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Michigan will play host to Arkansas State in 2020, and the Wolverines will pay ASU $1.8 million.
The matchup is set for Sept. 19, 2020 at Michigan Stadium, which was supposed to be the day that Michigan hosted Virginia Tech. The Wolverines do already have a matchup at Washington to open the 2020 season, so perhaps that motivated the decision to add Arkansas State instead. Nothing has been officially announced.
It would be the first ever meeting between any of the schools’ athletic teams. The $1.8 million would surpass the $1.7 million that ASU got from Alabama. Michigan’s check would match the one that Georgia reportedly agreed to with ASU for their 2019 matchup.
The report said that the schools will have to pay the $1.8 million buyout by Feb. 1 if the game isn’t played. That’s worth noting because ASU and Miami (FL) are currently involved in a legal dispute over a canceled 2017 game as a result of Hurricane Irma.
With ASU on the slate for 2020, here’s what Michigan’s non-conference slate for that year looks like:
- Sept. 5 — at Washington
- Sept. 12 — Ball State
- Sept. 19 — Arkansas State
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.