SoCon Teams Face Challenging 2011 Schedules

The task for Southern Conference teams will be interesting in 2011 as next season's schedules are announced

By Myron Hosea
South Columnist
College Sporting News

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — While this is a relatively quiet period of the football offseason – signing day is done and spring practices are just beginning – it is one of my favorite times.

It’s the time when schedules for the next season are finalized and announced. I enjoy, as you might, finding out the non-conference games.

It’s also fun to see the order of the conference games, especially now that the Southern Conference spreads its league games across the board from week one to week 12.

In this column, we’ll examine the schedules of the Southern Conference teams. Here are some observations.

TRENDS

The Southern Conference will again launch its conference slate in week one.

Georgia Southern, which advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals in 2010, opens against Samford in Birmingham, Al.

Related to that, SoCon teams will continue to play late-season games at FBS schools.

In fact, the 2011 schedule features something of a SoCon-SEC Challenge.

On November 19, The Citadel plays at South Carolina, Furman travels to Florida, Georgia Southern visits Alabama, and Samford takes on defending FBS champ Auburn.

OTHER FBS OPPONENTS

Of course, you’ll find FBS squads on the early-season schedules, too.

Western Carolina gets things started on Thursday, Sept. 1, when it travels to Georgia Tech.

Season-opening games on Sept. 3 include Appalachian State at Virginia Tech, Elon at Vanderbilt, and Chattanooga at Nebraska.

Wofford makes the short trip to Clemson on Sept. 10.

TOUGHEST NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

I’d rate Chattanooga’s non-conference schedule the most challenging.

The week after the opener at Nebraska, the Mocs host playoff team Jacksonville State and follow with a road game versus Eastern Kentucky.

The following list shows the three non-conference games for each SoCon team:

Appalachian State: at Virginia Tech, North Carolina A&T, Savannah State

Chattanooga: at Nebraska, Jacksonville State, at Eastern Kentucky

The Citadel: Jacksonville, VMI, at South Carolina

Elon: at Vanderbilt, Concord, at North Carolina Central

Furman: at Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian College, at Florida

Georgia Southern: Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian College, at Alabama

Samford: Stallman, Gardner-Webb, at Auburn

Western Carolina: at Georgia Tech, Mars Hill, Coastal Carolina

Wofford: at Presbyterian College, at Clemson, Virginia-Wise

LET'S ALL TAKE A WEEK OFF

Saturday, September 17 will be a pretty light day around the Southern Conference.

Only three teams, Appalachian State (vs. Savannah State), Chattanooga (at Eastern Kentucky), and Elon (at North Carolina Central), are scheduled to play that day.

The Citadel, Furman, Georgia Southern, Samford, Western Carolina and Wofford all have an open date planned.

GAMES TO WATCH

It’s early – very early – but you still can pick some games that look big on the SoCon radar.

Here are some to consider.

Sept. 3 – Georgia Southern at Samford: the Eagles should get first-place votes in the pre-season, but they’d best be careful in this road game to start the season.

Sept. 10 – Furman at The Citadel: This represents an early date for these long-time, in-state rivals.

Sept. 24 – Chattanooga at Appalachian State: Last year, these teams played one of the best games of 2010 in the first week. This will once again be the SoCon opener for both.

Oct. 1 – Appalachian State at Wofford: Recently, these teams have played much more competitive games in Spartanburg than in Boone.

Oct. 8 – Chattanooga at Georgia Southern: Two programs on the rise meet in a critical mid-season game.

Oct. 15 – Furman at Georgia Southern: These rivals usually meet at the end of the season but not in 2011.

Oct. 22 – Wofford at Furman: When these neighbors meet, something’s on the line for one or both.

Oct. 29 – Georgia Southern at Appalachian State: This could be the game of the year in the conference.

Nov. 19 – Appalachian State at Elon: When these teams met in Elon at season’s end two years ago, it was to decide the league title. Could history repeat?

Next time: We’ll focus on the schedules of the Big South teams.

Southern Conference Schedules by Team

# = SoCon game

Appalachian State

Sept. 3 – at Virginia Tech

Sept. 10 – North Carolina A&T

Sept. 17 – Savannah State

Sept. 24 – Chattanooga #

Oct. 1 – at Wofford #

Oct. 8 – Open Date

Oct. 15 – at The Citadel #

Oct. 22 – Samford #

Oct. 29 – Georgia Southern #

Nov. 5 – at Furman #

Nov. 12 – Western Carolina #

Nov. 19 – at Elon #



Chattanooga

Sept. 3 – at Nebraska

Sept. 10 – Jacksonville State

Sept. 17 – at Eastern Kentucky

Sept. 24 – at Appalachian State #

Oct. 1 – The Citadel #

Oct. 8 – at Georgia Southern #

Oct. 15 – Western Carolina #

Oct. 22 – at Elon #

Oct. 29 – Furman #

Nov. 5 – at Samford #

Nov. 12 – Open Date

Nov. 19 – Wofford #


The Citadel

Sept. 3 – Jacksonville

Sept. 10 – Furman #

Sept. 17 – Open Date

Sept. 24 – at Elon #

Oct. 1 – at Chattanooga #

Oct. 8 – Wofford #

Oct. 15 – Appalachian State #

Oct. 22 – at Western Carolina #

Oct. 29 – VMI

Nov. 5 – at Georgia Southern #

Nov. 12 – Samford #

Nov. 19 – at South Carolina


Elon

Sept. 3 – at Vanderbilt

Sept. 10 – Concord

Sept. 17 – at North Carolina Central

Sept. 24 – The Citadel #

Oct. 1 – Georgia Southern #

Oct. 8 – at Western Carolina #

Oct. 15 – at Samford #

Oct. 22 – Chattanooga #

Oct. 29 – at Wofford #

Nov. 5 – Open Date

Nov. 12 – at Furman #

Nov. 19 – Appalachian State #


Furman

Sept. 3 – at Coastal Carolina

Sept. 10 – at The Citadel #

Sept. 17 – Open Date

Sept. 24 – Presbyterian College

Oct. 1 – at Western Carolina #

Oct. 8 – Samford #

Oct. 15 – at Georgia Southern #

Oct. 22 – Wofford #

Oct. 29 – at Chattanooga #

Nov. 5 – Appalachian State #

Nov. 12 – Elon #

Nov. 19 – at Florida


Georgia Southern

Sept. 3 – at Samford #

Sept. 10 – Coastal Carolina

Sept. 17 – Open Date

Sept. 24 – at Wofford #

Oct. 1 – at Elon #

Oct. 8 – Chattanooga #

Oct. 15 – Furman #

Oct. 22 – Presbyterian College

Oct. 29 – at Appalachian State #

Nov. 5 – The Citadel #

Nov. 12 – at Wofford #

Nov. 19 – at Alabama #


Samford

Sept. 3 – Georgia Southern #

Sept. 10 – Stillman

Sept. 17 – Open Date

Sept. 24 – at Wofford #

Oct. 1 – Gardner-Webb

Oct. 8 – at Furman #

Oct. 15 – Elon #

Oct. 22 – at Appalachian State #

Oct. 29 – Western Carolina #

Nov. 5 – Chattanooga #

Nov. 12 – at The Citadel #

Nov. 19 – at Auburn


Western Carolina

Sept. 1 – at Georgia Tech

Sept. 10 – Mars Hill

Sept. 17 – Open Date

Sept. 24 – at Wofford #

Oct. 1 – Furman #

Oct. 8 – Elon #

Oct. 15 – at Chattanooga #

Oct. 22 – The Citadel #

Oct. 29 – at Samford #

Nov. 5 – Wofford #

Nov. 12 – at Appalachian State #

Nov. 19 – Coastal Carolina


Wofford

Sept. 3 – at Presbyterian College

Sept. 10 – at Clemson

Sept. 17 – Open Date

Sept. 24 – Samford #

Oct. 1 – Appalachian State #

Oct. 8 – at The Citadel #

Oct. 15 – Virginia-Wise

Oct. 22 – at Furman #

Oct. 29 – Elon #

Nov. 5 – at Chattanooga #

Nov. 12 – Georgia Southern #

Nov. 19 – at Western Carolina #