Game 1 of the Night

Season 136 is here and time to start getting some questions answered. Will Texas A&M-Commerce be able to overcome the loss of all their senior talent and defend their crown? Will Northern Michigan remind the old coaches and educate the new coaches on the last dynasty Rockne D2 had? Will we see the fifth different team win the NC in five seasons? Will any of the new or 2nd season coaches make any noise this season? The answers have all been revealed to the "smart dog", but on the condition I keep it to myself. Don't fret though, for all will be reveal in the next 19 days. Good luck everybody.

I spent the day reviewing all the match-ups and trying to decide which game will be chosen to start off the Game of the Night series. I ended up picking two teams from the top 35 (not a typo) since they were ranked pretty close to each other. We will be travelling to the "show me" state where #35 Bowie State is facing off against #32 Missouri-Rolla.

Bowie State has their third human coach in the last four seasons. Coach Tipi48 is taking over a team that currently has 25 players signed by Sim AI. He will have a tough start since all five of their OOC games are against human coaches. It looks like he will be using the Pro-Set formation on offense and 4-3 and Nickel on defense. One fact I found interesting is our own coach Akua29 spent a season there before going to TAMC. I'll need to do some digging to see if he was fired or left under a cloud of pending WIS investigation or for the future glory. Another well-known coach also spent just one season at Bowie State. I'll need to find out why coach Mojolad was there but one season too.

Coach Olrdneck is in his 22nd season at Missouri-Rolla. He also runs the Pro-Set formation on offense and a blend of 3-4, 4-3, and Nickel on defense. Team looks a little light on offense, especially at wide receivers where there are only three players. Defense, on the other hand, is loaded. Defense has ten seniors with three of them being red-shirt seniors.

Early season games are hard to predict, but I see the Miners' defense being the difference as coach Olrdneck getting the victory 24-13.