Whenever we play mid-week games, I typically worry a little bit. The dynamics of the game and match ups are altered. A short week of preparation challenges coaches in their game-planning. You have to have a coaching staff who can make good in-game adjustments, which is the type of coaching staff we have. Additionally and more to my point, who you play the weekend before and the level of your opponent that Saturday can have significant effect on how you do the following Thurs in my opinion.
Looking at our Thurs night scheduled games: we play at Cincinnati - in what consider to be the marquee match up of the AAC in-conference season - we play UConn at home, and we play Louisville at home. Based upon what I mentioned above, let’s look at who our opponents play the week before compared to us. Cincinnati plays at Purdue, and we play Lamar of the FCS. UConn plays Syracuse at home, and we play at Texas State. Finally, Louisville plays Wake Forest at home, and we play Tulane at home.
Let’s be honest, that Lamar game is going to be a scrimmage. I know you can’t overlook anyone, but could we ask for a better match up before having to travel to Cincy for a Thursday game. Next, Texas St is barely a road trip, and even though they return a lot of players, they just don’t have the talent. Besides, UConn has to travel half-way across the country to Texas in Sept, and there is a revenge factor in this game. Louisville legitimately concerns me. Wake Forest at home is not a really tough opponent. Neither is Tulane for us. The fact that is a home game in what will be a sold out stadium bodes well for us. All-in-all, our schedule lines up so our Thurs night games are very winnable. Plus we get the national media attention on ESPN.