Post by alecs on Oct 30, 2021 20:26:45 GMT -8
Hey IFL Fans!
Old news from earlier this week, but the schedule for the upcoming season has been finalized and made public! The new season will bring us 15 teams competing in 120 regular season games, beginning on March 12th, as the Massachusetts Pirates raise their championship banner before their opener versus the Frisco Fighters. An 8-team playoff slate is scheduled for a late-July start, with the United Bowl taking place on August 13th! The attached file gives a detailed breakdown of the schedule, but here are a few of the highlights I found notable:
* Each team will have three bye weeks throughout the season, with most teams getting them near the beginning and end of the season. The Tucson Sugar Skulls, for example, actually will have to wait until Week 3 to open up its season.
* Streaks of consecutive home/away games are fairly balanced throughout, but some exceptions pop out. The Bismarck Bucks and Duke City Gladiators will each have a season-long 4 game home stand during the season, while the Gladiators and San Diego Strike Force will both have to go for 4 straight on the road. Several teams will have three straight at home and/or on the road at some point in the season too.
* 82 of the 120 games have Saturday kickoffs, which unsurprisingly makes it the most common day for a game. Friday comes in 17 games, while Sunday has 16. 4 games will be played on Monday (3 of which involve the Bay Area Panthers), while one game early in the season is scheduled on a Thursday.
* San Diego gets a bad deal to begin their season, as their first two games post-dormancy are just three days apart (Monday 3/21 and Thursday 3/24). I'm not sure if this was simply an oversight by the schedulers or if arena availability may have had some part in this oddity.
* The Massachusetts Pirates, defending IFL Champs, figure to be the most well-traveled team of the season, with 6 of their 16 games scheduled against opponents from the other conference. Frisco has the next highest total of inter-conference games, with 5. On the other side of the ledger, Iowa and Tucson will keep their season fairly local, as each team will play its entire schedule within their conference.
* 8 out of the 120 games will be rematches of last year's playoff games. The Arizona Rattlers and Duke City Gladiators clash thrice in a semifinal rematch. The aforementioned opener between Frisco and Massachusetts was the other semifinal from last year. The Bismarck Bucks and Pirates will go head-to-head twice (1st round in 2021 Playoffs), while the Spokane Shock will travel to Frisco in another 1st round rematch. The big ticket event will take place May 14th, as the Pirates go back to the Snake Pit to take on the Rattlers in the United Bowl grudge match.
Which matchups/storylines are you anticipating the most this upcoming season?
Old news from earlier this week, but the schedule for the upcoming season has been finalized and made public! The new season will bring us 15 teams competing in 120 regular season games, beginning on March 12th, as the Massachusetts Pirates raise their championship banner before their opener versus the Frisco Fighters. An 8-team playoff slate is scheduled for a late-July start, with the United Bowl taking place on August 13th! The attached file gives a detailed breakdown of the schedule, but here are a few of the highlights I found notable:
* Each team will have three bye weeks throughout the season, with most teams getting them near the beginning and end of the season. The Tucson Sugar Skulls, for example, actually will have to wait until Week 3 to open up its season.
* Streaks of consecutive home/away games are fairly balanced throughout, but some exceptions pop out. The Bismarck Bucks and Duke City Gladiators will each have a season-long 4 game home stand during the season, while the Gladiators and San Diego Strike Force will both have to go for 4 straight on the road. Several teams will have three straight at home and/or on the road at some point in the season too.
* 82 of the 120 games have Saturday kickoffs, which unsurprisingly makes it the most common day for a game. Friday comes in 17 games, while Sunday has 16. 4 games will be played on Monday (3 of which involve the Bay Area Panthers), while one game early in the season is scheduled on a Thursday.
* San Diego gets a bad deal to begin their season, as their first two games post-dormancy are just three days apart (Monday 3/21 and Thursday 3/24). I'm not sure if this was simply an oversight by the schedulers or if arena availability may have had some part in this oddity.
* The Massachusetts Pirates, defending IFL Champs, figure to be the most well-traveled team of the season, with 6 of their 16 games scheduled against opponents from the other conference. Frisco has the next highest total of inter-conference games, with 5. On the other side of the ledger, Iowa and Tucson will keep their season fairly local, as each team will play its entire schedule within their conference.
* 8 out of the 120 games will be rematches of last year's playoff games. The Arizona Rattlers and Duke City Gladiators clash thrice in a semifinal rematch. The aforementioned opener between Frisco and Massachusetts was the other semifinal from last year. The Bismarck Bucks and Pirates will go head-to-head twice (1st round in 2021 Playoffs), while the Spokane Shock will travel to Frisco in another 1st round rematch. The big ticket event will take place May 14th, as the Pirates go back to the Snake Pit to take on the Rattlers in the United Bowl grudge match.
Which matchups/storylines are you anticipating the most this upcoming season?
