2022 Season
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:51 pm
New HC, mostly new coaching staff, getting some real high-quality new recruits...things are looking promising. Obviously going to take a little while to build the program back up...I don't expect miracles in the first year...but hopefully more competitive in more games this season.
I've seen a few MVFC teams posting their official schedules for 2022, and nothing I've seen posted contradicts what I've had put together for a while now.
It's looking highly likely that this will be our schedule for the 2022 season (it's also posted in the first post of the schedule thread along with future dates). I've also added what each team's 2021 record was and where they ended up last year in the Sagarin Ratings (we finished 2-9 at #179 out of 258 DI teams, just fyi)
9/1 - at UT-Martin - 10-3, #156
9/10 - at Minnesota (FBS, Big Ten), $450k guarantee - 9-4, #22
9/17 - vs Southern Utah - 1-10, #212
9/24 - vs Northern Iowa - 6-6, #99
10/1 - at South Dakota State - 11-4, #71
10/8 - bye
10/15 - at Southern Illinois - 8-5, #109
10/22 - Youngstown State (Homecoming) - 3-7, #143
10/29 - at Missouri State - 8-4, #103
11/5 - North Dakota State - 14-1, #38
11/12 - Indiana State - 5-6, #169
11/19 - at Illinois State - 4-7, #158
Do not play: North Dakota (5-6, #119) and South Dakota (7-5, #117)
So, we miss two "middle of the pack" MVFC teams, pick up NDSU fresh off another dominant FCS championship and a Missouri State team that's as strong as they've been in a long time (last time the Bears won 8+ games was in 1989).
We do get a "beatable" YSU for Homecoming, have a bye week almost exactly in the middle of the season, and have a very good shot at winning one of our OOC games (SUU) and a decent chance against UT-Martin (they did beat Missouri State in the playoffs, but they're ranked lower than the YSU team we beat last year). We also have our last game of the season away, which is always nice because it means we don't have that "weekend before Thanksgiving" attendance drop when all the students are gone and we have like 30 fans in the stands. Our first home game isn't until week 3 though, which is a little disappointing, but not unexpected.
The only games that I see that are "solid" blowouts against us are likely Minnesota, SDSU, and NDSU. Then again, the lack of crowd noise always seems to freak out the Bison and they often struggle at our place more than they are expected to going into it, so who knows with that one
So, what are your thoughts/predictions?
I've seen a few MVFC teams posting their official schedules for 2022, and nothing I've seen posted contradicts what I've had put together for a while now.
It's looking highly likely that this will be our schedule for the 2022 season (it's also posted in the first post of the schedule thread along with future dates). I've also added what each team's 2021 record was and where they ended up last year in the Sagarin Ratings (we finished 2-9 at #179 out of 258 DI teams, just fyi)
9/1 - at UT-Martin - 10-3, #156
9/10 - at Minnesota (FBS, Big Ten), $450k guarantee - 9-4, #22
9/17 - vs Southern Utah - 1-10, #212
9/24 - vs Northern Iowa - 6-6, #99
10/1 - at South Dakota State - 11-4, #71
10/8 - bye
10/15 - at Southern Illinois - 8-5, #109
10/22 - Youngstown State (Homecoming) - 3-7, #143
10/29 - at Missouri State - 8-4, #103
11/5 - North Dakota State - 14-1, #38
11/12 - Indiana State - 5-6, #169
11/19 - at Illinois State - 4-7, #158
Do not play: North Dakota (5-6, #119) and South Dakota (7-5, #117)
So, we miss two "middle of the pack" MVFC teams, pick up NDSU fresh off another dominant FCS championship and a Missouri State team that's as strong as they've been in a long time (last time the Bears won 8+ games was in 1989).
We do get a "beatable" YSU for Homecoming, have a bye week almost exactly in the middle of the season, and have a very good shot at winning one of our OOC games (SUU) and a decent chance against UT-Martin (they did beat Missouri State in the playoffs, but they're ranked lower than the YSU team we beat last year). We also have our last game of the season away, which is always nice because it means we don't have that "weekend before Thanksgiving" attendance drop when all the students are gone and we have like 30 fans in the stands. Our first home game isn't until week 3 though, which is a little disappointing, but not unexpected.
The only games that I see that are "solid" blowouts against us are likely Minnesota, SDSU, and NDSU. Then again, the lack of crowd noise always seems to freak out the Bison and they often struggle at our place more than they are expected to going into it, so who knows with that one
So, what are your thoughts/predictions?