OT - Baylor Football Schedules... Wait for It... University of the Incarnate Word in 2019

Submitted by alum96 on

This is not an April Fool's joke.  UIW is a school which has been playing football since '07.  No, not 1907...2007.  I think Baylor will be attempting to be the first team to score >100 in the past however many decades.  

For those curious UIW plays in a stadium of 6000... in Texas.  There are HS stadiums in Texas that seat 30K+.

Not sure what Baylor is doing if it wants to be a legitimate playoff contender, when strength of schedule is supposedly going to be a key component.

The University of the Incarnate Word announced Monday that it has scheduled a 2019 game against the Bears in Waco.  The game will be played Aug. 31 in McLane Stadium, which is currently under construction.  UIW founded its football program in 2007 and played at the Div. II level before moving up to the FCS in 2013.

Between 2014 and 2019, Baylor has just two non-conference games scheduled against programs from the five power conferences: a home-and-home with Duke in 2017 and 2018.

MGoGrendel

April 2nd, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^

Michigan has scheduled some "wimps" so that school get a cool million to help their program. Maybe Baylor is financially helping a fellow Texas school. Would not be surprised given Baylor's Christian foundation and their history of giving back to the community.

TruBluMich

April 1st, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^

APRIL FOOLS!  Although the joke would be much funnier if it was written "Michigan to schedule a rematch with Appalachian State to kick off the 20014 football season."  HUH?  Thats not a joke either, DAMN IT!

Wolverine Devotee

April 1st, 2014 at 8:51 PM ^

FWIW, Incarnate Word is in their first year of a transition TO Division I.

They will be a full Division I member in the 2017-18 year.

They are transitioning along with Nebraska-Omaha (2015), Northern Kentucky (2016), Abilene Christian, Grand Canyon and Massachusetts-Lowell (2017).

MGoBender

April 1st, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^

Wait, a minute they moving up to FCS.  Not FBS.  Let's keep that straight.  Both are considered "Division 1".  But they are still FCS.

"For the 2012-13 school year, Division I contains 340 of the NCAA's 1,066 member institutions, with 126 in FBS, 122 in FCS, and 98 in NFS"

^Wikipedia: Division 1 football

 

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 2nd, 2014 at 6:53 AM ^

No team has made the jump from D2 to FBS. Ever. It won't ever happen.

 Not true, several schools hanging out in the lower rungs of FBS football started off in Division II or even lower.  When Division I-A was formed in the '70s, Louisiana-Monroe was playing in the NAIA.

MH20

April 2nd, 2014 at 9:14 AM ^

You're overlapping sports in your list.

Only Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian are transitioning to the D1 (FCS) level in football.  Nebraska-Omaha, Northern Kentucky, Grand Canyon, and UMASS-Lowell are currently moving to the D1 level in basketball.  They do not have football teams.

BlueByTheAlamo

April 1st, 2014 at 9:26 PM ^

I live in San Antonio, and actually have a lot of respect for UIW. Their head coach has a ton of NFL coaching experience, and the running backs coach is Heisman winner Ricky Williams. (The university and his fellow coaches have done an amazing job helping Williams get his life back on track.) They may not have the raw talent, but a few years of this staff and an early season game mean UIW has more than an infentismal shot.

MGoBender

April 1st, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^

They may not have the raw talent, but a few years of this staff and an early season game mean UIW has more than an infentismal shot.

Respect your insight and that they seem to be serious about football, but no, they don't have any shot whatsoever.

mgobleu

April 1st, 2014 at 9:39 PM ^

Whoa, whoa, whoa...You have GOT to be kidding me. Ricky F'ing Williams is a coach??? I know he was a hell of a RB when he wanted to be, and I don't doubt that he can teach a kid a thing or two, but he seems like he's got all the intensity of a 3 day old banana skin. I have a hard time seeing him motivating college kids. 

Muttley

April 1st, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^

In 2007, we opened up against defending FCS champ Appy State, which was ranked #53 by Sagarin in his final 2006 tally.  Ahead of #55 Alabama.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2006/team/

In spite of the FCS label, losing to a ~50ish team wasn't the mother of all upsets.

Now last year, we almost lost to #137 Akron at home and #121 UConn on the road.  Appy St was ranked #175 last year.

This isn't the same FCS power coming to Ann Arbor, and I don't think there is any reason to worry about the Mountaineers playing up to their 2007 performance.  What I can't rule out is Michigan playing down to its 2013 Akron performance, which would have been the mother-of-all upsets. 

We sucked in 2008, ranked #95 by Sagarin, so while the loss to #134 Toledo was the worst team Michigan has lost to in my lifetime, I don't think it can be considered more than a run-of-the-mill, ~10 point underdog upset in hindsight.

bjk

April 2nd, 2014 at 1:11 AM ^

and M came in at #44 last year. 2006 M was #7, and 2007 M was #21 while Florida was #10 after getting pushed around in the Cap-One Bowl. This makes me somewhat dubious of the Sagarin ranking.

Hopefully there is a Nuss effect and we don't go back to biting fingernails when playing supposed tomato cans.

umfan323

April 1st, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^

I'm of the belief that the 3 or 4 games before conference starts are pre season games..fine tune the offense, get younger players some reps, build depth, build confidence in the players...i know plenty people on this board want to play the Alabamas and Clemsons of the world but that does nothing if you lose, especially when the goal is to win games and now get to the playoffs..i'm all for the cup cake non conference schedules

LSAClassOf2000

April 1st, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^

I couldn't find any rankings relative to their current placement in FCS on NCAA.com as it looks as if it will be their first year in the FCS, but here are their 2013 stats if anyone is interested in a quick glance (LINK)

Some select notes - UIW averaged 359.9 yards per game of offense while giving up 388.9 yards on defense on average. They avarged 24.4 points per game while giving up 26.8 points. They were 34% on 3rd down conversions and 71% in the red zone. Not sure how they'll be in 2019, of course, but if Baylor played them this weekend....damn....

alum96

April 1st, 2014 at 10:38 PM ^

"while giving up 388.9 yards on defense on average"

That would be Baylor's first four drives... which should get them through the first quarter.

For reference the 3 non conf games for Baylor last year

  • Wofford 69-3  (692 yards)
  • Buffalo 70-13  (781 yards)
  • UL Monroe 70-7  (uhh...781 yards again)

Iowa State is allegedly part of their conference and lost 71-7....and gave up 714 yards.  And Baylor put up 873 yards on West Virginia when their starters probably actually played in the 3rd quarter since that was a tight game Baylor only won by 31 pts.

aplatypus

April 1st, 2014 at 10:45 PM ^

it does have to be considered that this game is probably going to make UIW enough money to cover their entire football budget for the year. Maybe not all, but a sizable chunk. Games like this are how schools like UIW are able to keep their football programs running.