Virgina series dropped

Per Virginia SBNation blog Streaking the Lawn, the UTSA - Virginia series has been cancelled, opening up out of conference slots for 2013 and 2014. It will be interesting to see if UTSA persues an easy win to lighten up their schedule or attempt to get the ball rolling with the continuation of the I-35 rivalry. Or schedule A&M. EDIT: On second thought, UTSA and Virginia were both over-scheduled due to their respective conferences expanding. No OOC spots have opened for UTSA. The good news is that since both schools desperately needed to drop a game, it is likely that neither side were forced to provide monetary compensation.

Also be sure to check out this numbers-based preview on the Roadrunners season. They are particularly rosy on the team, predicting a 7-5 season. It's also the most thoroughly researched preview I've seen thus far, minus missing the subtractions of a couple players.

Talk about this post on twitter and on the Forum

UTSA 2012 Football Schedule At A Glance

Picture via San Antonio Express News

Months and months of waiting have finally come to a head as we now have a slate of 12 games to pick apart.

Sept. 1 at South Alabama
Sept. 8 Texas A&M-Commerce
Sept. 15 at Georgia State
Sept. 22 Northwestern Oklahoma State
Sept. 29 at New Mexico State
Oct. 13 at Rice
Oct. 20 San Jose State
Oct. 27 Utah State
Nov. 3 at Louisiana Tech
Nov. 10  McNeese State
Nov. 17 at Idaho
Nov. 24 Texas State

That's a pretty damn good schedule for a first year FBS team. Winnable games almost all around, and some easier gimme games to inflate the win total.

This is made possible by UTSA's lack of bowl eligibility concerns. There are two easy road trips (Rice and NMSU) and another that is very doable (LaTech). An additional positive is an equal spread of home and away games that is mostly balanced in spacing, outside of a one month gap in home games from mid-September to mid-October.

Luckily for the young Roadrunners, the team only has to make one super-lengthy trip: a 2,000 mile flight to Moscow. In a less fair universe UTSA would have had to fly out to San Jose and Moscow in the same year.

Obviously the Big Bertha on the schedule is the last game of the year, the Rumble on the Riverwalk. While both Adam and I have voiced our disappointment that the game is relatively scheduled for the Saturday date, essentially placing the rivalry on the same platform as other weak "rivalries", sheer excitement overcomes any negative sentiments.

Favorably for the Roadrunners, Texas State should come in to the affair limping after a brutal stretch: traveling to San Jose and Utah State, hosting Louisiana Tech, and then traveling to Navy-- all without an off week. On the other hand, UTSA will host FCS McNeese State and travel to cellar-dweller Idaho in the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

Overall, I give this schedule a hearty 10 out of 10. Even for a second year program, a .500 record is very achievable. The schedule gets UTSA's feet wet in the world of FBS while still keeping it real with schools that UTSA is on a more equal competitive field with as Coker and his comrades continue to grow the program's scholarship total to FBS levels.