[jpfine]

Chippewas announce 2013 schedule - and Heeke held up his end of the bargain

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
April 10, 2013
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Mount Pleasant, MI - Central Michigan Athletic Director, Dave Heeke, has announced the 2013 schedule that Head Coach Andrew Chambers will have to lead the Chippewas through.

Central Michigan 2013 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 31	vs Northern Iowa Panthers (Home Opener/Blackout)
Sep 7	vs Eastern Michigan Eagles (Rivalry)
Sep 14	at Michigan State Spartans
Sep 21	at Northern Illinois Huskies
Oct 5	vs Ball State Cardinals
Oct 12	vs Georgia State Panthers (Homecoming)
Oct 19	at Miami University RedHawks
Oct 26	at Kentucky Wildcats
Nov 9	at Western Michigan Broncos (Rivalry)
Nov 16	vs Vanderbilt Commodores (Maroon Out)
Nov 23	vs Massachusetts Minutemen (Senior Night)
Nov 30	at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Chambers will have to lead the Chippewas through a somewhat tough season for his first year in charge. Although the Chippewas host Northern Iowa for a blackout game that should be easy at home, the pace steps up quickly, as they host rival, Eastern Michigan. Afterwards, they travel to East Lansing to face Michigan State, and continue their road trip to DeKalb, Illinois, where they face former conference foe, Northern Illinois.

After a week to rest, Central Michigan is back home to face the Ball State Cardinals and Georgia State in consecutive weeks. Homecoming week for the university is the week leading up to the Georgia State game. Then, the Chippewas face the RedHawks from Oxford, Ohio. Furthering the road trip, Central Michigan heads down to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats. With a week break in between, they travel to Kalamazoo to face the rival Western Michigan Broncos.

Finally, the Chippewas come home to face Vanderbilt and Massachusetts at home, respectively. The game against Vanderbilt has been deemed a Maroon Out and the game against the Minutemen is Senior Day. To end of the season, Chambers and crew head to South Bend to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the final game of the season.

Rittenberg Picks
Although there are definitely some games the Chippewas can win, and others they can lose, the schedule is promising. Games such as Northern Iowa, Georgia State, and UMass are games that the Chippewas should and could win. Although a win against Northern Iowa doesn't count for the point system in Tier 8, it's a good game to fine-tune the team, as Chambers gets set. However, there are definitely games that Central Michigan should lose, including against Notre Dame and Michigan State. The Chippewas are walking into hostile environments when they face these two and, honestly, it could be a huge mess.

Projected Record
4-8

At best, I believe the Chippewas could go 5-7, possibly even 6-6, but those two don't seem so probable. To open up the season, Central Michigan can easily handle Northern Iowa and Eastern Michigan. However, from there, the road becomes a little tough. Wins against Georgia State and UMass could be huge boosts for the team, as they would be able to prevent these two teams from gaining points in the table. However, I think those four games will be their only wins. Quite possibly, the Chippewas could lose two of the four games that I predict they will win.

The Chambers Era has begun and the team looks to be in a position to gain promotion within the next three years. However, the team doesn't look ready to gain promotion this year, especially with a tough schedule ahead.