In the fall, every team's season is roughly the same. One, maybe two, off weeks, all scattered throughout the season. Games on Saturdays, with some on Thursday or Friday. Basically, everyone's coloring within the same picture, just with different crayons.
But when you move an entire subdivision to the spring, interesting things happen.
Everyone at the FCS level was given a brand new, clean canvas on which to paint, and they've come up with wildly different paintings. The Ohio Valley, for instance, will play on Sundays. The CAA, which doesn't have divisions, split into two unequal divisions.
And the Big Sky, which announced its schedule on Wednesday, has standardized its open weeks. Every team will begin Feb. 27, play for three weeks, then take a week off. They'll resume March 27, play three weeks, and then take a week off.
“This spring football season certainly will be unique, and I am confident that all who care about our conference share in the sentiment that we cannot wait to watch our student-athletes and coaches compete for a Big Sky title and contend for the FCS championship,” Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. “This schedule provides consistency by utilizing much of the original fall 2020 slate, flexibility by allowing space for games to be rescheduled, and sensibility by prioritizing regional matchups that minimize travel and expenses.”
Twelve of the Big Sky's 13 teams are playing this spring -- Sacramento State is the outlier -- and these six games will be it, aside from the FCS playoffs. No Big Sky teams will play regular season non-conference games until the fall.
With the FCS playoffs set to begin April 24, taking April 17 off serves two purposes. First, it allows space for a makeup game if such a need arises. Second, if a makeup game is not needed, the Big Sky champion will enter the tournament fresh off an idle week.
Weather could be a factor for the Big Sky in a way it isn't for other spring seasons or a typical fall campaign. Bozeman, Mont., home of Montana State, averages 14.98 inches of snowfall every March and 13.87 inches every April.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.