2011 CAA Schedule Released-Let’s Talk Bridgeforth Opening!

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We’re still over 2 months from the 2010 CAA Football season officially getting underway, but the conference has already released the 2011 schedule. The CAA will be an eleven team league in 2011, due to the departures of Hofstra and Northeastern, and the pending addition of Old Dominion. Because of these changes, the CAA is moving to a single division, with each team playing 8 conference games.

Two quick thoughts on the schedule. 1. It’s weird to not play Delaware and 2. Mark your calendars now for the JMUSB Norfolk tailgate party before the ODU game on October 29.

The big thing that really caught my eye is that JMU doesn’t open conference play until September 24. Therefore the grand opening celebration for the new Bridgeforth Stadium (Bridgeforth the Sequel) will be against an out of conference opponent. Who do you think the Dukes should bring to town for the honor of playing in the grand opening? Let’s explore some possibilities.

A Creampuff

The Dukes could pull the FCS equivalent of a BCS “guarantee game”. Pay some terrible school to come to the ‘burg, take their beating, and get out of town before anyone notices. It would be a win for the Dukes, but I just can’t see folks getting too excited to open the stadium against some random team from the MEAC or Pioneer conference.

A Legit, But Beatable, FCS Team

Not quite bringing the Washington Generals to town, but not exactly scheduling a CAA level opponent either. The Dukes could play a decent program that the more hard-core FCS fans would respect. Playing a school like Liberty for example, would be a good test before CAA play, yet would still likely result in a Dukes’ win. Liberty plays at JMU this season, so it probably wouldn’t be them. A school like Furman would fit the bill though.

A Big Name BCS School

Not. Gonna. Happen.

A Traditional FCS  Power

JMU is building the stadium to cement its place amongst the FCS elite (Ed. note: let’s save the “we’re going to the BCS” talk for another day), so maybe they should just get down to business on day 1. It would be tough to replicate the atmosphere from the 2008 clash against Appalachian State, but another showdown against the Mountaineers might do it. Playing a school like App State or Montana obviously might result in a tough loss, but a big win against a FCS power could kick start the season and keep Bridgeforth packed for years to come.