Tag: 2021 schedule

Notre Dame baseball releases their full schedule along with ‘21 hats

The Notre Dame baseball team has released their full schedule along with their 2021 hats and where to buy them.

As the baseball season rapidly approaches, the Irish had yet to announce their  non-conference schedule. Well, that box has been checked as the full schedule has been released.

This weekend the Irish will swing into the 2021 season with a three game set against Air Force on Friday, Louisiana Tech on Saturday and the road trip finale against LSU on Sunday.

After the opening weekend, they’ll get right into the ACC conference schedule as the team will travel to Wake Forest the following weekend. The first home series is set for the weekend of March 19th against Duke, with a Tuesday tuneup against Valparaiso before another home series against Louisville the following weekend.

As for this years hats, they look absolutely fantastic. You can purchase them using the link below.

Although this will be Link Jarrett’s second year leading the Irish, last year was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If Notre Dame gets off to a fast start like last year, 11-2, the Jarrett hire will be viewed as a home run.

Texas Longhorns Football: Full 2021 schedule released

Texas’ full schedule for the 2021 season has been released. The opponents have been known, but the Big 12 dates were revealed on Thursday.

Texas’ full football schedule for the 2021 season has been released. The opponents and three nonconference games (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Rice) were already known, but the Big 12 dates were revealed to the public on Thursday afternoon.

The Steve Sarkisian era will officially kick off on Sept. 4 when Louisiana travels to Austin. His first experience within the conference will take place three weeks later, hosting Texas Tech in Austin.

Of course, the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma is always the biggest game of the season. The two rivals will head to Dallas on Oct. 9, setting up one of the most fascinating matchups in all of college football.

Take a look at the full schedule below.

One early advantage awaits Dolphins in pending 2021 schedule

One early advantage awaits Dolphins in pending 2021 schedule

The Miami Dolphins have much more pressing issues at hand than their 2021 schedule — which is a yet to be determined order of confirmed teams. The NFL typically releases the team schedules in April as a part of a continuous strategy to command the headlines in the sports world, even in the offseason. So we’ll have a few months before there’s any more clarity on what teams fall on what weeks this fall for the Dolphins.

But a surface level inspection of Miami’s confirmed opponents gives Miami some optimism that there will be some advantages for the Dolphins this fall regardless of how the schedule falls. The Miami Dolphins will only play one football game on the west coast this season after a brutal gauntlet of travel wore on the Dolphins down the stretch in 2020.

Of Miami’s confirmed road opponents for 2021, only the Las Vegas Raiders push further west than New Orleans. Miami’s full list of confirmed road opponents are as follows:

  • New York Jets
  • New England Patriots
  • Buffalo Bills
  • Tennessee Titans
  • New Orleans Saints
  • Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Las Vegas Raiders

There is also an unconfirmed 17th game looming, which reportedly would send the Dolphins back to northern New Jersey to play the New York Giants.

When you consider the west coast travel Miami took on in 2020, with trips west to play the Raiders, Broncos, Cardinals and 49ers, only having to load up for one long-distance flight certainly sounds like a desirable scheduling tweak for 2021. Of course, Miami won’t be immune to travel and there’s a chance the team could even be called upon to play overseas as the International Series looks to return after a year off in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But unless Miami sees a home game plucked from their schedule this year, the Dolphins will play 10 of their games in the state of Florida between their own eight home games and the two road games versus Tampa Bay and Jacksonville. Add in short distance trips to Nashville and New Orleans and the Dolphins don’t appear to be destined for jet-lag a year after traveling 24,424 miles in 2020.

We’ll count that as a win this early in the process.

Cowboys a possibility as Buccaneers’ opponent for opening night 2021

The Super Bowl champs will host next season’s kickoff game; the Dallas Cowboys are already making a scheduled visit to Tampa.

The Buccaneers were just crowned Super Bowl champs in their home stadium to close out the 2020 NFL season. Tradition dictates they’ll launch the next season on the same field on opening night 2021.

And since each team’s upcoming opponents is already known- along with who the home team will be for each matchup- one can go down the list and take early guesses as to which Tampa Bay opponent will travel to the pirate ship to take part in the kickoff festivities.

The Dallas Cowboys could well be the visiting squad on opening night 2021.

It’s long been determined that the Cowboys will play the Bucs next season, by virtue of the divisional rotation that pits the NFC East against the NFC South teams. And Dallas already knows they’ll be heading to Tampa for that meeting. With Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on track to be fully healthy once again and fresh off whatever contract/franchise tag drama plays out over the summer, it’s hard to imagine a higher-profile clash for the league’s next big primetime fight.

As NFL.com’s Kevin Patra points out, “The Cowboys should always be considered a contender to play in the biggest spots. If the NFL decides they don’t want to save this matchup for later in the season to goose ratings, it would make sense to put Jerry Jones’ club on kickoff night.”

The storylines write themselves.

There’s the retooled Cowboys defense taking on Brady and the high-octane Bucs attack. There’s Prescott retaking command of his offensive weaponry against former Dallas secondary coach Todd Bowles, who will by then be sporting the ring he just won as Tampa’s defensive coordinator. There’s Mike McCarthy versus Bruce Arians, two longtime coaches, each with a Super Bowl win on his resume.

And, of course, there’s the ratings bonanza that a Cowboys-Buccaneers opener would provide. The NFL kickoff game should always win the Thursday night timeslot, but the league may be looking to reassert their TV dominance with a splash after Sunday’s Super Bowl turned in a noticeable dip in viewing numbers.

The Bucs will also host the Saints, Bills, Dolphins, Bears, Falcons, Panthers, and Giants in 2021. Plans to add a 17th game to each team’s schedule have not been formally adopted.

The Cowboys held Brady largely in check the last time they faced him, in Week 12 of 2019, but Dallas lost to New England that rainy afternoon by a 13-9 score. The last time the Cowboys played Tampa Bay was the 2018 home finale in Arlington, when Dallas won the NFC East crown with a 27-20 win.

America’s Team versus the defending Super Bowl champs. The quarterback whose contract and anticipated comeback will have been front-page news for months going head-to-head with the G.O.A.T.

It may prove to be just too much for the NFL schedule makers to pass up on opening night.

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Washington to face both Super Bowl teams at home on 2021 schedule

We know Washington’s 2021 opponents already, and both Super Bowl team will be traveling to D.C. to take on Washington at some point.

One of the downsides to winning your division and making it into the playoffs is the fact that you have to contend with a first-place schedule the next season.

For Washington, this means that there are at least five games on their calendar next year that will be arguably tougher than any game they had this past season, and now we know that it will be highlighted by two matchups — one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the other against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The order of the matchups is unclear, but the actual list of opponents has been known since the end of the regular season, and we know which games will be at home or on the road. Luckily for Washington, the games against both conference champions will be played at FedEx Field, so that could take a bit of the difficulty out of the equation.

Nonetheless, it could be a tough go-around for Washington, as they also have games against the Green Bay Packers (NFC runner-ups), the Seattle Seahawks, and the New Orleans Saints, all of whom were playoff teams. If Washington can land a quarterback by then, though, things might be interesting.

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Cowboys to face both Super Bowl teams on 2021 schedule

The Cowboys path to their next Lombardi will take them to the home of the champions, regardless of who wins the Super Bowl.

The Dallas Cowboys are going to have to work hard in order to return to the playoffs next season. While the 2020 regular season’s easy schedule might have earned them top spot in the rotation of draft picks with other clubs that finished 6-10, there will likely be no such luck when it comes to their 2021 opponents.

The order of the matchups is unclear, but the actual list of opponents has been known since the end of the regular season. Part of that rotation? The Cowboys are going to have to face off against both of the two conference champions who punched their ticket to Super Bowl LV on Sunday evening. Dallas will have to take on both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs next season. Not only that, they’ll have to take on both on the road.

So it won’t matter who wins the Lombardi trophy in two weeks as far as the Cowboys are concerned. They’ll be hanging out in the visiting locker room of the defending champs whether Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs defend their title or whether Tom Brady wins his seventh for the Buccaneers.

Each team in the NFC East will square off against each team in the NFC South as well as the AFC West in 2021 as part of the rotating opponents each division goes through. Divisions face off against the each other division in their conference every three years and against each of the opposing conferences teams every four years.

They also square off against the same-place finisher in each of their conference’s divisions, plus in 2021 there is a 17th game being added. For this first iteration, the NFC East faces off against the similar-place finisher in the AFC East. For Dallas that’s New England and Bill Belichick.

Coincidentally, Dan Quinn will have a revenge game on the schedule, as part of the NFC East rotation against the NFC South. At least that one will be a home game.

For a look at the complete list of Dallas’ 14 opponents, click below.

Cowboys list of 2021 opponents, 17th-game opponent finalized

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Ranking Washington’s 2021 opponents from easiest to toughest

There are some tough games on Washington’s 2021 schedule, but who are the most difficult opponents they will face?

We don’t yet know which order Washington’s 2021 opponents are going to be played in, but at this point in time, we are aware of the 13 teams that the burgundy and gold will line up against next season.

While the top-tier of WFT opponents definitely makes this look like an incredibly tough schedule — Washington plays the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, and New Orleans Saints, all playoff teams from 2020 —things are relatively mundane outside of those five games. Depending on who is under center for Washington, they will definitely have a shot at putting together a solid record next season.

Here is our ranking of 2021 opponents from easiest to toughest, based on previous records and potential departures.

Oklahoma baseball releases 2021 schedule

The 2021 Oklahoma baseball schedule was finally released on Friday with less than a month to go until the season starts.

The 2021 Oklahoma Sooners baseball schedule has finally arrived less than a month away from when the games are set to begin.

After the way last season ended, the program and fans alike are surely dying to get back to action, and they will get that chance beginning on Feb. 19th with a home series with Southern to open the year.

The Sooners will then go to a trio of Texas professional stadiums starting with Globe Life Field and games against Stephen F. Austin and UT-Arlington. Then they will head to Round Rock, Texas for games against Auburn, Texas A&M and Baylor. Finally they will wrap up with four games in Frisco facing Arizona twice, Missouri and Dallas Baptist.

Sprinkle in a couple home non-conference series against Arkansas State and Houston, along with Tuesday night matchups against Arkansas in Fayetteville and Texas State in San Marcos, Texas, and that wraps up a very strong pre-conference play portion of the slate.

Oklahoma will then have a series with every Big 12 opponent as normal, with road trips to Texas, Kansas State, West Virginia and Baylor along with two games in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. TCU, Kansas, and Texas Tech will come to Norman.

The Sooners will also host home non-conference series with Texas Southern and Georgia Southern in the heart of conference play in mid to late April.

The Big 12 baseball tournament is then set to run from May 26th-30th before the NCAA Tournament begins shortly thereafter.

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Oklahoma baseball releases 2021 schedule

The 2021 Oklahoma baseball schedule was finally released on Friday with less than a month to go until the season starts.

The 2021 Oklahoma Sooners baseball schedule has finally arrived less than a month away from when the games are set to begin.

After the way last season ended, the program and fans alike are surely dying to get back to action, and they will get that chance beginning on Feb. 19th with a home series with Southern to open the year.

The Sooners will then go to a trio of Texas professional stadiums starting with Globe Life Field and games against Stephen F. Austin and UT-Arlington. Then they will head to Round Rock, Texas for games against Auburn, Texas A&M and Baylor. Finally they will wrap up with four games in Frisco facing Arizona twice, Missouri and Dallas Baptist.

Sprinkle in a couple home non-conference series against Arkansas State and Houston, along with Tuesday night matchups against Arkansas in Fayetteville and Texas State in San Marcos, Texas, and that wraps up a very strong pre-conference play portion of the slate.

Oklahoma will then have a series with every Big 12 opponent as normal, with road trips to Texas, Kansas State, West Virginia and Baylor along with two games in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. TCU, Kansas, and Texas Tech will come to Norman.

The Sooners will also host home non-conference series with Texas Southern and Georgia Southern in the heart of conference play in mid to late April.

The Big 12 baseball tournament is then set to run from May 26th-30th before the NCAA Tournament begins shortly thereafter.

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Where Oklahoma and its 2021 opponents finished in SP+ rankings

One of the more interesting analytics models is the SP+, where did Oklahoma and their future opponents finish in 2020?

There are many metrics that can be used to grade a team’s performance in a season. When looking at the Oklahoma Sooners record for 2020, a 9-2 record is a pretty good indication of how the team performed. As legendary coach Bill Parcells once said, “you are what your record says you are.”

While that does hold true, not everything is as black and white as that statement claims. There is a multitude of variables, models, and analytics to break it down even further. One such model is the SP+ model developed by ESPN’s Bill Connelly.

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What is SP+? ESPN’s website has a quick breakdown of this model.

In a single sentence, it’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency.

The model ranks offense, defense, and special teams. The final team ranking is determined by offense plus special teams grade and subtracts the defense-grade.

Oklahoma’s Final SP+ Ranking

Oklahoma Overall Offense Defense Special Teams
Rating 27.5 44.9 19.6 0.4
Ranking 4th 3rd 15th 23rd

The Sooners finished the 2020 campaign with the fourth-highest overall SP+ ranking just behind the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Clemson Tigers. Three of the four teams that competed in the 2020 College Football Playoffs. The other participant being the Notre Dame Fighting Irish who fell all the way to No. 16.

The Sooners were just on the cusp of being one of those top teams, had it not been for a couple of mishaps to begin Big 12 Conference play in weeks two and three of the season. Moving forward into the 2021 season with a more experienced quarterback in Spencer Rattler, there is a great deal of hope that Oklahoma can return to the College Football Playoffs next season after a one-year hiatus in 2020.

In an effort to look forward, Sooners Wire looks at the 2021 opponents on the schedule and how they finished out the 2020 season with their SP+ rankings. The only team not accounted for will be Western Carolina who are members of FCS (Football Championship Subdivision).