A Way to Early Look at 2012 Schedule
Will these dog days never end? I am so ready for football season to start, and yet it still seems so far away. I was looking at this year’s schedule and decided to rank the games as I am interested in them. This season will be the one and only with UTSA in the WAC before the moving to the greener pastures of Conference USA. The schedule also has some intriguing non conference games along with a few dogs that will hopefully equal a few wins. So here they are, counting down:
#12 Northwestern Oklahoma State
So Northwestern Oklahoma means they are in that strip of land called the panhandle? Actually no, but anyway, this is a home game against an NAIA opponent. Sounds like a 2011 game. This team lost to Bacone last season, a team that UTSA beat 54-7. This one should be a good one to keep the fans happy.
#11 at Idaho
Have you seen the Kibbie Dome? Definitely a unique place to play, a strange indoor facility. Wouldn’t expect too many fans to make the trip, Moscow is far away and hard to get to. If you ever wanted to go to this area, go this year, I doubt the Roadrunners will ever return. It’s a shame that this program is being forced to possibly drop down to FCS.
#10 McNeese State
This should be an interesting home game. While UTSA won’t be favored against the FBS schools, they should be superior to FCS programs right? That is the assumption, but you know what grandma says about assuming. The baby birds need to get to that point, but may not be there yet. The two teams did play last year in Lake Charles (the Cowboys won 24-21), so perhaps this will be a good barometer to see improvement. It may also show us how much better the team is at home than on the road. Schools have some history from the Southland days.
#9 Texas A&M Commerce
Excited to see a Texas school on the schedule, but I don’t even know where this school is. However, it is the opening home game of the season and the boys should be able to win this one. With a pretty brutal schedule for a 2nd year team, don’t feel guilty about laying the wood to this DII team.
#8 Utah State
Not real happy that there is a home game on Saturday before Halloween, last year Halloween partying kicked UTSA students’ asses. The Alamodome had great attendance in the student section all season with the exception of the October 29th game against Georgia State. The student section for this game was pretty bare and it made it a difference with the overall crowd. Either way, Utah State will be moving to the Mountain West and there still may some kind of bonding between Conference USA and MWC down the road.
#7 at Georgia State
There are a lot of parallels between these two programs. UTSA gets the opportunity to play in a large city in a large dome, a bit of role reversal. Georgia State is having a meteoric rise that is just barely lagging behind the comet that is UTSA. They will be making the move to the FBS Sunbelt Conference starting next year. This year is their 3rd and they are a very equal opponent. Last year in the Alamodome, the game went to overtime with the good guys pulling it out.
#6 at South Alabama
Similar to Georgia State, this is another young program that UTSA played to overtime last season, but lost. They are starting their transition into the Sun Belt. This game is scheduled on Thursday night to open the season which hopefully means some kind of television coverage.
#5 at New Mexico State
UTSA’s first ever full FBS member opponent (USA is transitional) and first WAC game will happen on the road. Las Cruces is drivable if you dare make the trek through west Texas. It will be interesting to see how UTSA fairs against one of the weaker FBS teams.
#4 San Jose State
First WAC home game and first ever FBS program to come to the Alamodome to play the Runners. This is another weak program that could see the Roadrunners pull off an upset. It'll be a history making game for fans of the UTSA program.
#3 at Louisiana Tech
This game may get out of control early as last year’s WAC champions air attack the young Runners. This game is desirable because it is somewhat travelable (Ruston is 9 hours away) and it is a school that will be moving with UTSA to Conference USA. As they stand now, Tech may be the powerhouse of the western division of CUSA in the near future. This is the Bulldog’s homecoming game.
#2 at Rice
This will be the closest road game UTSA will have moving forward and is a great chance for runner nation to travel. This game kicks off what will hopefully become a rivalry as UTSA and Rice will be both be in the western division of Conference USA starting in 2013. This game will be Rice’s homecoming and certainly they will want to show their new mates what to expect.
#1 Texas State
This one is going to be just insane. The two schools have been longtime rivals and it was thought this would be an annual WAC classic. However, the Bobcats will be relegated to Conference USA’s farm league while the Runners play with the adults. Out of conference schedule slots are full for a few years so this is the first and last time the matchup will occur for a while, which just makes it that much more interesting. The Bobcats hate that the Runners have shot right past them and are ready to release their frustration on the field. Despite the game falling on a holiday weekend, expect a large crowd. When I say large I mean record breaking. I predict this game will be more attended than last year’s program opening game 57k. San Antonio has a lot of Bobcat alumni and of course San Marcos is so close. Add the fact that this will be the one “have to attend” game for both team’s casual fans and expect to see an almost completely full upper deck.
That is how I see it, just one bloggers opinion. Some of the WAC games don’t look so sexy, but let’s not hate on the WAC, they served UTSA well by giving them a ticket to FBS in the form of an invite. Starting in 2013 the schedule becomes very sexy (like Lynn Hickey sexy) as the CUSA schedule kicks in. There will also be big out of conference games including Oklahoma State, Houston at home and New Mexico, Arizona and Virginia on the road, although it seems one of these games will have to be bought out. That my friends will be big boy football.
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