BYU Football Schedule: East Carolina to visit Provo in 2015

Assuming the Cougars are getting six home games in 2015, their 2015 home schedule took one more step toward completion today. Per a release from ECU, the East Carolina Pirates will be making a trip to Provo in 2015. The Cougars are currently scheduled to return the trip to Greenville in 2017.

The release didn't list the date, but looking at open dates, I would guess the game would be scheduled for September 19th. If that's the case, BYU would open 2015 with AT Nebraska, Boise State, ECU, and AT Michigan, which would be a difficult stretch for sure.

UPDATE-It looks like BYU's date with ECU will be October 10th, 2015. The return date is Oct 21st, 2017. BYU is currently slated to have an off week, then will travel to Southern Mississippi (if that game holds) the following week. Maintaining an open slot on September 19th might help BYU's flexibility if they want to add one more "big fish" to the schedule.

BYU's 2015 home slate currently includes games with Boise State, ECU, Cincinnati, UConn and Fresno State. While I imagine BYU will kick the tires on trying to bring Group of Five League opponent to Provo that year, I'd guess that an FCS squad, or a team that will not require BYU to make a return trip, is more likely. With Nebraska and Michigan already on the schedule, another big name might be too much. Only time will tell though.

BYU's 2015 schedule is started to fully form now, with only one more slot up for grabs. Some BYU fans have wondered whether the currently scheduled road game at Southern Miss is still on. Here is what the Godfather of football schedules had to say on the subject:

@MattSBN Checked with USM a couple months back and they said it was still on.

— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) February 27, 2014

ECU is coming off a successful season last year, winning 10 games and a bowl under Ruffin McNeill, who has gone 18-8 at ECU over the last two seasons. The Pirates run an entertaining, pass-happy offense that is capable of putting a scare in lots of teams (they beat both North Carolina and North Carolina State last season), and should be a fun matchup with BYU.

FWIW, my mom is a professor at ECU, and I've been to their campus/stadium a few times. It's not a big city, but I think BYU fans will enjoy making the trip in 2017. If nothing else, it's not that far from the beach!