Tough Opening Schedules

[GoAgs72]

UC Davis starts out with:
Cal (FBS)
Portland State
Univ. of San Diego
Weber State
San Jose State (FBS)

The only gimme might be Univ. of San Diego but they beat us last time we played. I respect Portland State - despite having some tough times they can always come up and bite your a** if you overlook them. Our best bet for an upset in San Jose State which is struggling.

[Thumper 76]

Of course the UNI fans are going to be pumping up the Redbirds.

This isn't UNI fans pumping thing, they should be pumped this year. They, if all goes as it should, be a legit top 15-20 team

Ya haven't paid much attention if you think that Ill St will suck this year

[Screamin_Eagle174]

This isn't UNI fans pumping thing, they should be pumped this year. They, if all goes as it should, be a legit top 15-20 team

Ya haven't paid much attention if you think that Ill St will suck this year

Never said they're gonna suck, but they're not going to be a good team... only average.

[kirkblitz]

ccu opens at west virginia. Easy win for us

[Tribe4SF]

UMass opens with William & Mary...plays Holy Cross, then travels to Michigan...

Two FCS playoff teams from last season and a Big Ten team...

Not an easy way to open the season...

Are you going to make the W&M game? I'll be there.

[clenz]

Ya haven't paid much attention if you think that Ill St will suck this year

Never said they're gonna suck, but they're not going to be a good team... only average.

I'm putting them at 7-4, outside shot at 8-3.


I'm going with UNI and SIU tied for the title with ISUr and SDSU tied for 2nd.


UNI 7-1 9-2
SIU 7-1 9-2
SDSU 5-3 7-4
ISUr - 5-3 7-4
YSU - 4-4 6-5
MSU - 4-4 6-5
NDSU - 3-5 4-6 (Yep, the only have 10 games)
ISUb 1-7 2-9
WIU - 0-8 1-10

[jstclmet]

When you're the Defending National Champs, every game is a tough game, as the bullseye is on your back, and everyone bring's their "A" game.

5 games before the bye, and hopefully we're better than 2 - 3. No real gimmies in the CAA.

9/3 @ Temple - Much improved, loaded for Bear, and HUNGRY for REVENGE, then there's that FBS thing.
9/11 @ Lehigh - Much improved, but hopefully, not too much.
9/18 vs. Towson - Again another team on the rise, but still maybe 2 years away.
9/25 vs. UPenn - Always a tough out, and may bring back enough to tip the tide in their favor.
10/2 @ W&M - The losing streak against Nova has to end eventually, hopefully not this year. But, we're playing at their place, and they have nothing but revenge on their minds. They were in the Semi's last year and 15 minutes from the NC game. They could easily have been the Def N/C's. Other than Montana, and to a lesser degree, UD, no other team wants to beat Nova more.

Nova's question marks are big and similar to last year. Do they have enough returning to repeat???
Stay tuned......

[GannonFan]

When you're the Defending National Champs, every game is a tough game, as the bullseye is on your back, and everyone bring's their "A" game.

5 games before the bye, and hopefully we're better than 2 - 3. No real gimmies in the CAA.

9/3 @ Temple - Much improved, loaded for Bear, and HUNGRY for REVENGE, then there's that FBS thing.
9/11 @ Lehigh - Much improved, but hopefully, not too much.
9/18 vs. Towson - Again another team on the rise, but still maybe 2 years away.
9/25 vs. UPenn - Always a tough out, and may bring back enough to tip the tide in their favor.
10/2 @ W&M - The losing streak against Nova has to end eventually, hopefully not this year. But, we're playing at their place, and they have nothing but revenge on their minds. They were in the Semi's last year and 15 minutes from the NC game. They could easily have been the Def N/C's. Other than Montana, and to a lesser degree, UD, no other team wants to beat Nova more.

Nova's question marks are big and similar to last year. Do they have enough returning to repeat???
Stay tuned......

Stop it already - you're embarrassing yourself. There are gimmies in the CAA, and they are URI and Towson and you play Towson in game 3, at home, so that's a gimmie. Lehigh hasn't been over .500 since 2006 so that's another easy game. And until Temple beats a legit FBS team outside of the MAC or the service academies, they are still an FBS team that can and perhaps should be beaten by a top 10 FCS team.

nova returns more than almost every CAA team and every playoff team from the CAA last year has had much more significant losses due to graduation than nova. If nova is 2-3 with that opening slate then Talley should be fired - heck, anything less than 4-1 would be worrisome.

[∞∞∞]

Not necessarily opening scheduling, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a tougher stretch for anyone other than Cal Poly University.

After opening against Humboldt State, they get Montana and then travel for 5 straight away games totalling a whopping 5,805 miles of travel distance to those schools, and 11,610 miles if they return to Cal Poly between those games. In that distance, the Mustangs can travel from Anchorage, AK to the southern most point of South America.

[SpiderFan5]

UR's is not that bad
Start off with UVA, bye week, Elon, then Delaware
so actually 3 weeks until a CAA game

[jstclmet]

When you're the Defending National Champs, every game is a tough game, as the bullseye is on your back, and everyone bring's their "A" game.

5 games before the bye, and hopefully we're better than 2 - 3. No real gimmies in the CAA.

9/3 @ Temple - Much improved, loaded for Bear, and HUNGRY for REVENGE, then there's that FBS thing.
9/11 @ Lehigh - Much improved, but hopefully, not too much.
9/18 vs. Towson - Again another team on the rise, but still maybe 2 years away.
9/25 vs. UPenn - Always a tough out, and may bring back enough to tip the tide in their favor.
10/2 @ W&M - The losing streak against Nova has to end eventually, hopefully not this year. But, we're playing at their place, and they have nothing but revenge on their minds. They were in the Semi's last year and 15 minutes from the NC game. They could easily have been the Def N/C's. Other than Montana, and to a lesser degree, UD, no other team wants to beat Nova more.

Nova's question marks are big and similar to last year. Do they have enough returning to repeat???
Stay tuned......

Stop it already - you're embarrassing yourself. There are gimmies in the CAA, and they are URI and Towson and you play Towson in game 3, at home, so that's a gimmie. Lehigh hasn't been over .500 since 2006 so that's another easy game. And until Temple beats a legit FBS team outside of the MAC or the service academies, they are still an FBS team that can and perhaps should be beaten by a top 10 FCS team.

nova returns more than almost every CAA team and every playoff team from the CAA last year has had much more significant losses due to graduation than nova. If nova is 2-3 with that opening slate then Talley should be fired - heck, anything less than 4-1 would be worrisome.

A UD fan extolling the virtues of a Nova FB team. If it's not frozen over, there must be a stiff breeze running through hades these days.

[Col Hogan]

Stop it already - you're embarrassing yourself. There are gimmies in the CAA, and they are URI and Towson and you play Towson in game 3, at home, so that's a gimmie. Lehigh hasn't been over .500 since 2006 so that's another easy game. And until Temple beats a legit FBS team outside of the MAC or the service academies, they are still an FBS team that can and perhaps should be beaten by a top 10 FCS team.

nova returns more than almost every CAA team and every playoff team from the CAA last year has had much more significant losses due to graduation than nova. If nova is 2-3 with that opening slate then Talley should be fired - heck, anything less than 4-1 would be worrisome.

A UD fan extolling the virtues of a Nova FB team. If it's not frozen over, there must be a stiff breeze running through hades these days.

He didn't say he likes ya'...just pointing out you might...just might...be sandbagging a little in your description of 'Nova's "tough" opening schedule...

[Col Hogan]

UMass opens with William & Mary...plays Holy Cross, then travels to Michigan...

Two FCS playoff teams from last season and a Big Ten team...

Not an easy way to open the season...

Are you going to make the W&M game? I'll be there.

Not sure yet...I have to make a run up to MA in August for my Mom's 80th birthday...and I don't know if the job will allow more time the begining of September...

I'd like to go to the Big House later in the month too...

We'll see...

[CoachL]

UC Davis starts out with:
Cal (FBS)
Portland State
Univ. of San Diego
Weber State
San Jose State (FBS)

The only gimme might be Univ. of San Diego but they beat us last time we played.

[GannonFan]

A UD fan extolling the virtues of a Nova FB team. If it's not frozen over, there must be a stiff breeze running through hades these days.

He didn't say he likes ya'...just pointing out you might...just might...be sandbagging a little in your description of 'Nova's "tough" opening schedule...

Oh no, Towson really is legit and is ready to turn around that 2-9 record is by no means a "gimme" anymore (someone should alert Andy to that, I don't think he's heard of Towson's incredible turnaround) and Lehigh's sub .500 record for the past half decade was all just building up to what will be a tremendous year this year - they were just biding their time!!!!

[jstclmet]

He didn't say he likes ya'...just pointing out you might...just might...be sandbagging a little in your description of 'Nova's "tough" opening schedule...

Oh no, Towson really is legit and is ready to turn around that 2-9 record is by no means a "gimme" anymore (someone should alert Andy to that, I don't think he's heard of Towson's incredible turnaround) and Lehigh's sub .500 record for the past half decade was all just building up to what will be a tremendous year this year - they were just biding their time!!!!

Well, ya see my friend, 2 - 3, kind'a infers I'm sort'a countin on the Lehigh & Towson games as W's. It's the other 3 that has me more than just a little worried. Hopefully, we'll survive the Temple game with little to no injuries. I'd love a "W", but right now, I think we got less than a 50/50 chance at that one. UPenn always gives us fits, and based on their success in 09, they may have just enough to pull off the upset in 2010. As much as it pains me to say it, this one is a coin flip. And I'm not looking forward to the trip to Chambersburg. Whether they're Griffens or Tribesmen, they'll be looking to have Wildcat for supper. At best, we're 50/50 going into that contest.

Please, enlighten me and the rest of FCS as to where the other two easy W's are.

[grizzaholic]

...... There are gimmies in the CAA........

I have always been told that the CAA is the toughest out there and every week there are no gimmies and the teams are all so tough that they just beat up on each other.

Weird.

[GannonFan]

...... There are gimmies in the CAA........

I have always been told that the CAA is the toughest out there and every week there are no gimmies and the teams are all so tough that they just beat up on each other.

Weird.

That's not what you've been told. Towson's always been a gimmie. However, unlike other conferences, there's really only one Towson in the CAA. Unlike the Big Fluff where a team who isn't Towson-like is the exception. That's weird.

[GannonFan]

Oh no, Towson really is legit and is ready to turn around that 2-9 record is by no means a "gimme" anymore (someone should alert Andy to that, I don't think he's heard of Towson's incredible turnaround) and Lehigh's sub .500 record for the past half decade was all just building up to what will be a tremendous year this year - they were just biding their time!!!!

Well, ya see my friend, 2 - 3, kind'a infers I'm sort'a countin on the Lehigh & Towson games as W's. It's the other 3 that has me more than just a little worried. Hopefully, we'll survive the Temple game with little to no injuries. I'd love a "W", but right now, I think we got less than a 50/50 chance at that one. UPenn always gives us fits, and based on their success in 09, they may have just enough to pull off the upset in 2010. As much as it pains me to say it, this one is a coin flip. And I'm not looking forward to the trip to Chambersburg. Whether they're Griffens or Tribesmen, they'll be looking to have Wildcat for supper. At best, we're 50/50 going into that contest.

Please, enlighten me and the rest of FCS as to where the other two easy W's are.

If the CAA champ can't handle the Ivy League champ, at home nonetheless (and the 2 or 3 nova fans have been droning on about homefield advantage on the Main Line) then there are issues. Penn wouldn't be .500 in the CAA so yes, that should be another win.

And remember, this is a thread about tough opening schedules - when 3 of the first 4 games are games you'll be heavily favored in, it kinda doesn't meet the criteria of being a "tough" opening schedule. Take a look at SDSU's schedule for comparison.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Man, you don't even have to talk about the good CAA teams to get a circle jerk going. Towson? Really?






By the way Trip, that new avatar is fucking AWESOME! Great idea.

[jstclmet]

Well, ya see my friend, 2 - 3, kind'a infers I'm sort'a countin on the Lehigh & Towson games as W's. It's the other 3 that has me more than just a little worried. Hopefully, we'll survive the Temple game with little to no injuries. I'd love a "W", but right now, I think we got less than a 50/50 chance at that one. UPenn always gives us fits, and based on their success in 09, they may have just enough to pull off the upset in 2010. As much as it pains me to say it, this one is a coin flip. And I'm not looking forward to the trip to Chambersburg. Whether they're Griffens or Tribesmen, they'll be looking to have Wildcat for supper. At best, we're 50/50 going into that contest.

Please, enlighten me and the rest of FCS as to where the other two easy W's are.

If the CAA champ can't handle the Ivy League champ, at home nonetheless (and the 2 or 3 nova fans have been droning on about homefield advantage on the Main Line) then there are issues. Penn wouldn't be .500 in the CAA so yes, that should be another win.

And remember, this is a thread about tough opening schedules - when 3 of the first 4 games are games you'll be heavily favored in, it kinda doesn't meet the criteria of being a "tough" opening schedule. Take a look at SDSU's schedule for comparison.

My friend, I really like your attitude and spirit. You're always welcome to sit on the Nova sidelines and root for the Cats

You are very right in that we were the CAA Champs in 09. However, we're talking about 2010. We're a differerent team now. Most, if not all of the CAA will be different. On Labor Day weekend, all will be equal.

As for UPenn not being .500 in the CAA, that would sort'a depend on which division you place them in 09. If they were in the South, they certainly would have beaten Towson and UD, and depending on when they caught JMU, the Quakers would have fared well with them too. They certainly could have taken at least 3 if not 4 in the North. Two of those four are no longer with us. Being home will certainly be the plus that might push us over the top.

But again, being the Defending National Champion, you'd expect us to be riding that NC momentum. But graduation has staggered us a bit, and we're going to need help if we want to stay competitive.

Trust me, I would love for us to be 5 - 0 or 4 - 1 at the bye. But, as I see things as they are today, everyone else would have to have taken a step back, or we have to get extremely lucky to accomplish such w/l records.

[GannonFan]

If the CAA champ can't handle the Ivy League champ, at home nonetheless (and the 2 or 3 nova fans have been droning on about homefield advantage on the Main Line) then there are issues. Penn wouldn't be .500 in the CAA so yes, that should be another win.

And remember, this is a thread about tough opening schedules - when 3 of the first 4 games are games you'll be heavily favored in, it kinda doesn't meet the criteria of being a "tough" opening schedule. Take a look at SDSU's schedule for comparison.

My friend, I really like your attitude and spirit. You're always welcome to sit on the Nova sidelines and root for the Cats

You are very right in that we were the CAA Champs in 09. However, we're talking about 2010. We're a differerent team now. Most, if not all of the CAA will be different. On Labor Day weekend, all will be equal.

As for UPenn not being .500 in the CAA, that would sort'a depend on which division you place them in 09. If they were in the South, they certainly would have beaten Towson and UD, and depending on when they caught JMU, the Quakers would have fared well with them too. They certainly could have taken at least 3 if not 4 in the North. Two of those four are no longer with us. Being home will certainly be the plus that might push us over the top.

But again, being the Defending National Champion, you'd expect us to be riding that NC momentum. But graduation has staggered us a bit, and we're going to need help if we want to stay competitive.

Trust me, I would love for us to be 5 - 0 or 4 - 1 at the bye. But, as I see things as they are today, everyone else would have to have taken a step back, or we have to get extremely lucky to accomplish such w/l records.

nova returns 15 starters - come Labor Day, they will not be equal to the rest of the CAA - they will be the clear favorites. As for Penn - they were 1-2 out of conference last year - they wouldn't be .500 in the CAA no matter what division they were in.

[Silenoz]

I have always been told that the CAA is the toughest out there and every week there are no gimmies and the teams are all so tough that they just beat up on each other.

Weird.

That's not what you've been told. Towson's always been a gimmie. However, unlike other conferences, there's really only one Towson in the CAA. Unlike the Big Fluff where a team who isn't Towson-like is the exception. That's weird.

Well there is Rhode Island and until recently Northeastern...

[mlbowl]

That's not what you've been told. Towson's always been a gimmie. However, unlike other conferences, there's really only one Towson in the CAA. Unlike the Big Fluff where a team who isn't Towson-like is the exception. That's weird.

Well there is Rhode Island and until recently Northeastern...

...yes, Rhode Island was 1-10 (stellar)...Northeastern 3-8....oh...and 3 other teams UNDER 500 but we wont let facts get in the way

[GannonFan]

Well there is Rhode Island and until recently Northeastern...

...yes, Rhode Island was 1-10 (stellar)...Northeastern 3-8....oh...and 3 other teams UNDER 500 but we wont let facts get in the way

But, as you guys are prone to always complaining about, with the CAA being so big you don't get to play everyone in the conference every year. Not too many teams, if any, were facing a slate of Towson, URI, Northeastern every year. So which is it, there are too many bottom dwellers or the conference is too big - you guys seem to be contradicting yourselves.