SAC fall schedules

[Saints Tailgating]

I'm still convinced, with no disrespect to the actual winner, that Furrey should've been COTY last year.

You'll get no argument from me on that.

[canadarican]

I don't like Limestone playing on the road for game 1 on a Thursday nite for some reason. I think a split of the the first 2 games is a realistic goal. As for the conference slate, who knows?. I do agree that Limestone probably will have better/more talent this season but could see fewer wins. Obviously I hope I'm wrong. Coach Furrey and his staff have done a good job of convincing the players that they're as talented as any team in the SAC & that it's a matter of execution from week to week as to how successful they will be.

I'm still convinced, with no disrespect to the actual winner, that Furrey should've been COTY last year.

[Saints Tailgating]

Canadarican on point as always. Biggest games I see each week are:

Week 1: Limestone at UWG. Could be a statement game for Limestone. Would love to see them prove last season was not just a flash in the pan.
Week 2: Wingate at Mars Hill. MH can prove they are the dominant force in a weaker Mountain Division. Wingate lost a bunch in the offseason - will be interesting to see how they come out this year.
Week 3: Tusculum at Wingate. Tusculum are always hard to judge. Wingate playing the class of the Mountain division early on.
Week 4: LR at Carson-Newman. Rivalry game up in east Tennessee. I want to see the Eagles improve this season, but not at the expense of the Bears.
Week 5: Mars Hill at Limestone. Could be a big cross division showdown.
Week 6: LR at Limestone. This is a make-it-or-break-it year for the LR coaching staff. Need to take down most (read all) of the heavy weights this season.
Week 7: Limestone at Wingate. I promise I'm not even too terribly high on Limestone, they just have some massive games to start the year.
Week 8: LR at Newberry. First real test of the season for the Indians comes in the graveyard against LR. This one has the potential of being a real classic.
Week 9: LR at Wingate and Newberry at Limestone. Can't pick between the two. Y'all had better get out both your TVs and pay double for Flo for this week.
Week 10: Wingate at Newberry is the pick, but MH vs TC is a titanic matchup in the Mountain.
Week 11: Betting on a LR vs Mars Hill SAC Bowl this year!

A few observations. (1) Limestone has a brutal schedule, they could easily lose 5 or 6 games and still be a top 4 team in the SAC in terms of talent. (2) Newberry play Wingate and LR at home. (3) Emory and Henry could be a surprise team, they played some of the big boys tight last year and play some decent local squads early in the year - should test their resolve for the big games down the stretch. (4) LR plays Limestone, CN, Wingate, and Newberry on the road. The expectation has to be winning most of these games, but man if this isn't a brutal away schedule.

Any thoughts?

I don't like Limestone playing on the road for game 1 on a Thursday nite for some reason. I think a split of the the first 2 games is a realistic goal. As for the conference slate, who knows?. I do agree that Limestone probably will have better/more talent this season but could see fewer wins. Obviously I hope I'm wrong. Coach Furrey and his staff have done a good job of convincing the players that they're as talented as any team in the SAC & that it's a matter of execution from week to week as to how successful they will be.

[BEARS]

Canadarican on point as always. Biggest games I see each week are:

Week 1: Limestone at UWG. Could be a statement game for Limestone. Would love to see them prove last season was not just a flash in the pan.
Week 2: Wingate at Mars Hill. MH can prove they are the dominant force in a weaker Mountain Division. Wingate lost a bunch in the offseason - will be interesting to see how they come out this year.
Week 3: Tusculum at Wingate. Tusculum are always hard to judge. Wingate playing the class of the Mountain division early on.
Week 4: LR at Carson-Newman. Rivalry game up in east Tennessee. I want to see the Eagles improve this season, but not at the expense of the Bears.
Week 5: Mars Hill at Limestone. Could be a big cross division showdown.
Week 6: LR at Limestone. This is a make-it-or-break-it year for the LR coaching staff. Need to take down most (read all) of the heavy weights this season.
Week 7: Limestone at Wingate. I promise I'm not even too terribly high on Limestone, they just have some massive games to start the year.
Week 8: LR at Newberry. First real test of the season for the Indians comes in the graveyard against LR. This one has the potential of being a real classic.
Week 9: LR at Wingate and Newberry at Limestone. Can't pick between the two. Y'all had better get out both your TVs and pay double for Flo for this week.
Week 10: Wingate at Newberry is the pick, but MH vs TC is a titanic matchup in the Mountain.
Week 11: Betting on a LR vs Mars Hill SAC Bowl this year!

A few observations. (1) Limestone has a brutal schedule, they could easily lose 5 or 6 games and still be a top 4 team in the SAC in terms of talent. (2) Newberry play Wingate and LR at home. (3) Emory and Henry could be a surprise team, they played some of the big boys tight last year and play some decent local squads early in the year - should test their resolve for the big games down the stretch. (4) LR plays Limestone, CN, Wingate, and Newberry on the road. The expectation has to be winning most of these games, but man if this isn't a brutal away schedule.

Any thoughts?

[canadarican]

2023 Schedule
Week 1
Virginia-Lynchburg Dragons	at	Carson-Newman Eagles
Union College (KY) Bulldogs	at	UVA Wise Cavaliers
Emory & Henry Wasps	at	Concord Mountain Lions
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	Allen Yellow Jackets
Catawba Indians	at	Elizabeth City Vikings
St. Augustine's Falcons	at	Lenoir-Rhyne Bears
Newberry Wolves	at	Shippensburg Raiders
Limestone Saints	at	West Georgia Wolves
Chowan Hawks	at	Barton Bulldogs
Tusculum Pioneers	at	Kennesaw State Owls (FCS)
Albany State Golden Rams	at	Wingate Bulldogs
Week 2
Carson-Newman Eagles	at	East Tennessee State Buccaneers (FCS)
UVA Wise Cavaliers	at	Thomas More Saints
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	Shorter Hawks
Emory & Henry Wasps	at	Bluefield State Big Blues
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	at	Fayetteville State Broncos
Livingstone Blue Bears	at	Catawba Indians
North Greenville Crusaders	at	Newberry Wolves
West Alabama Tigers	at	Limestone Saints
Barton Bulldogs	at	Davidson Wildcats (FCS)
Tusculum Pioneers	at	Virginia State Trojans
Wingate Bulldogs	at	Mars Hill Lions
Week 3
Carson-Newman Eagles	at	Limestone Saints
UVA Wise Cavaliers	at	Barton Bulldogs
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	Lenoir-Rhyne Bears
Mars Hill Lions	at	Catawba Indians
Emory & Henry Wasps	at	Newberry Wolves
Tusculum Pioneers	at	Wingate Bulldogs
Week 4
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	at	Carson-Newman Eagles
Limestone Saints	at	UVA Wise Cavaliers
Barton Bulldogs	at	Mars Hill Lions
Newberry Wolves	at	Erskine Flying Fleet
Catawba Indians	at	Tusculum Pioneers
Wingate Bulldogs	at	Emory & Henry Wasps
Week 5
Carson-Newman Eagles	at	Newberry Wolves
Mars Hill Lions	at	Limestone Saints
Emory & Henry Wasps	at	Catawba Indians
UVA Wise Cavaliers	at	Lenoir-Rhyne Bears
Barton Bulldogs	at	Tusculum Pioneers
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	Wingate Bulldogs
Week 6
Tusculum Pioneers	at	Carson-Newman Eagles
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	Mars Hill Lions
Emory & Henry Wasps	at	UVA Wise Cavaliers
Wingate Bulldogs	at	Catawba Indians
Newberry Wolves	at	Barton Bulldogs
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	at	Limestone Saints
Week 7
UVA Wise Cavaliers	at	Tusculum Pioneers
Carson-Newman Eagles	at	Erskine Flying Fleet
Mars Hill Lions	at	Emory & Henry Wasps
Limestone Saints	at	Wingate Bulldogs
Barton Bulldogs	at	Lenoir-Rhyne Bears
Catawba Indians	at	Newberry Wolves
Week 8
Tusculum Pioneers	at	Emory & Henry Wasps
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	UVA Wise Cavaliers
Mars Hill Lions	at	Carson-Newman Eagles
Wingate Bulldogs	at	Barton Bulldogs
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	at	Newberry Wolves
Catawba Indians	at	Limestone Saints
Week 9
Tusculum Pioneers	at	Erskine Flying Fleet
UVA Wise Cavaliers	at	Mars Hill Lions
Emory & Henry Wasps	at	Carson-Newman Eagles
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	at	Wingate Bulldogs
Barton Bulldogs	at	Catawba Indians
Newberry Wolves	at	Limestone Saints
Week 10
Mars Hill Lions	at	Tusculum Pioneers
Carson-Newman Eagles	at	UVA Wise Cavaliers
Erskine Flying Fleet	at	Emory & Henry Wasps
Wingate Bulldogs	at	Newberry Wolves
Catawba Indians	at	Lenoir-Rhyne Bears
Limestone Saints	at	Barton Bulldogs
Week 11*
Wingate Bulldogs	at	UVA Wise Cavaliers
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	at	Tusculum Pioneers
Catawba Indians	at	Carson-Newman Eagles
Newberry Wolves	at	Mars Hill Lions
Barton Bulldogs	at	Erskine Flying Fleet
Limestone Saints	at	Emory & Henry Wasps

[canadarican]

All the SAC schedules have been released. I'm putting something together.

[87Bear]

Wingate released their schedule today, looks like they are playing Mars Hill week 2 in a non SAC game. They must not have been able to find an out of conference opponent. This is where the alliance with the MEC will help out.

[canadarican]

Tusculum released its schedule today. Open at Kennesaw State

[cavsfan94]

Here is UVA-Wise's schedule for 2023

[Hailscarlet&gray]

Should be a good day for Newberry unless Ship is greatly improved from last season. We were 5-6 with a very young team. The team had three freshmen quarterbacks and the first two were injured, leaving us with the third-string guy for the final couple of games. He actually might have played the best of the three, engineering an upset of Gannon in the final game that probably kept them out of our regional playoffs. That position is probably still in flux this spring, our leading end entered the transfer portal, and a big lift will be needed from an o-line that started mostly frosh and sophomores last year. The situation might get better on defense, where a lot of the young players saw considerable playing time and showed some promise. Didn't have a big recruiting class as 78 players are returning.

I look for the Raiders to be somewhat better, but not a match for Newberry if it's anything like it's been the past couple of seasons.

I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. Should be a good game. Though I think we will be pretty good again this year, we will be much younger on both sides of the ball.

[Eagle74]

Although it's not been officially released, I was told today that Limestone's non-conference schedule is as follows:

Sept. 2 @ West Georgia Sept. 9 host West Alabama

This could be a very good long term strategic move for the future for when there may eventually be a combined CC / GSC Football Conference.


After being a member of Conference Carolinas for 22 years (there are still close ties with the conference) Limestone made the move to the SAC at the time when their plans of football began, and CC wasn't a football supporting conference, but now things have changed in a big way, and continue to change. There could be more and more opportunities in this region for D2 sports affiliated changes. We will see.

[Ship69]

Going all the way to Pennsylvania to play a non conference game? They mustbe having a difficult time finding non conference games. I wish they would play more Gulf South teams, like West Georgia.

Should be a good day for Newberry unless Ship is greatly improved from last season. We were 5-6 with a very young team. The team had three freshmen quarterbacks and the first two were injured, leaving us with the third-string guy for the final couple of games. He actually might have played the best of the three, engineering an upset of Gannon in the final game that probably kept them out of our regional playoffs. That position is probably still in flux this spring, our leading end entered the transfer portal, and a big lift will be needed from an o-line that started mostly frosh and sophomores last year. The situation might get better on defense, where a lot of the young players saw considerable playing time and showed some promise. Didn't have a big recruiting class as 78 players are returning.

I look for the Raiders to be somewhat better, but not a match for Newberry if it's anything like it's been the past couple of seasons.

[BEARS]

We've been spoiled by the amount of home games in recent years. Had several years with 6 or even 7 home games (not counting playoffs). It makes something like Bears Club (which is not cheap) feel like a much better bang for your buck when you are spreading that money out over the course of more games.

[pm2011]

I have mixed feelings about LR's schedule. The non-conference should be simple enough, but I hate that we aren't getting two home games to start the year. The away schedule in the conference will be brutal as well, we play all our tough games on the road (CN, Limestone, Newberry, Wingate, Tusculum). While I feel really good about the team we are bringing back this year, it we'll have some tough tests in hostile environments.

Biggest gripe is only having 5 home games. Makes that Bears Club membership (which jumped by a couple hundred bucks this year) feel a lot less worth it.

But, won't you probably have 6 home games next year? With only 11 games on the schedule each year, it seems a rather silly thing to gripe about ;).

[BEARS]

I have mixed feelings about LR's schedule. The non-conference should be simple enough, but I hate that we aren't getting two home games to start the year. The away schedule in the conference will be brutal as well, we play all our tough games on the road (CN, Limestone, Newberry, Wingate, Tusculum). While I feel really good about the team we are bringing back this year, it we'll have some tough tests in hostile environments.

Biggest gripe is only having 5 home games. Makes that Bears Club membership (which jumped by a couple hundred bucks this year) feel a lot less worth it.