Welcome to the Sickos Committee’s Weather, Travel & Football Master Almanac Notebook aka the SCWTFMAN.

Here in our SCWTFMAN we will attempt to forecast the upcoming 2023 college football season by using our Sickos Committee alert system. We’re going to do this in the Farmer’s Almanac style. If you don’t know what a Farmers' Almanac is, basically it provides long-range weather predictions for both the U.S. and Canada. We will be applying our forecast to all of Division I in the United States. We’re trying to predict what the upcoming season holds for all Division I teams in college football using our Sickos Committee Weather Alert System.

First we will preview the 128 FCS teams in a conference by conference breakdown over the next coming weeks. Then we will get to the 133 FBS teams for a total of 261 team previews in all. 

Will these previews be long winded and incredibly in depth? No. Will these previews be mostly based on “vibes” as assessed by the Sickos Committee weather forecasters? Yes. 

Basically, we’re going to try to assess the team as a Sickos Warning, Watch or Advisory, give you their record last year, provide a little blurb about the team and for the FCS version to advise you of any of their games against the FBS and interesting schedule tidbits. We will do a couple of parts here for the substack as we can’t fit all the teams in one post. 

The SCWTFMAN for the Big Sky Conference

The SCWTFMAN for the Coastal Athletic Conference

The SCWTFMAN for the Big South - Ohio Valley Alliance and Ivy League

The SCWTFMAN for the Missouri Valley Football Conference

The SCWTFMAN for the MEAC and SWAC

The SCWTFMAN for the NEC and Patriot League

The SCWTFMAN for the Southland Conference

The SCWTFMAN for The FCS Independents... Just Kennesaw State

The Pioneer Football League

Butler

• Last Year 7-4 Overall and 5-3 in the Pioneer

• In 2022, the Bulldogs did about what they expected to do. They lost games against eventual FCS National Champion South Dakota State, Pioneer Conference champ St. Thomas, Pioneer FCS auto-bid recipient (due to St. Thomas being ineligible) Davidson… and then a weird one to 3-8 Drake. 

• They open 2023 on the road in Missoula against No. 14 Montana, and then continue an out-of conference slate that includes NAIA Taylor and D3 Wabash. 

• Under second year head coach Mike Uremovich, Butler finds themselves in the mid to top of the pack in the Pioneer League, but they bring back Senior QB Brett Bushka who was named Pioneer League Offensive Player of the Year in 2022.

• Rating - Sickos Advisory - Butler looks to get better but not quite break through the top of the conference. 

Davidson

• Last Year 8-4 Overall and 6-2 in the Pioneer. Made FCS Playoffs due to St. Thomas (MN) being ineligible for the FCS Playoffs because of their transition from Division III to FCS. 

• In 2022, Davidson reached the FCS for the third straight year and third time in program history. Their only regular season losses came to transitioning-to-FBS Jacksonville State, Pioneer conference champion St. Thomas, and a body clock loss on the west coast to San Diego.

• In 2023, in addition to their Pioneer League schedule, they face non-conference opponents VMI, D2 Barton, and NAIA St. Andrews. 

• Rating - Sickos Advisory - With St. Thomas still ineligible for the FCS postseason, Davidson is perched to make their fourth straight playoff. 

Dayton

• Last Year 8-3 Overall and 6-2 in the Pioneer.

• In 2022, the Flyers’ only conference losses were to Davidson and Butler, with an extra non-conference loss at Youngstown State. Narrowly missed an FCS Playoff spot.

• In 2023, Dayton plays Illinois State, D2 Central State, and NAIA Taylor as non-conference opponents, along with the Pioneer League schedule. 

• The Flyers’ long time coach Rich Chamberlin retired at the end of the 2022 season after 42 years with the program. Trevor Andrews, the new head coach, is an alumnus of the program and has spent time at William & Mary and Western Michigan in defensive positions. 

• Rating - Sickos Watch - Any time a program gets a new coach after a long run under previous administration, weird things can happen. 

Drake

• Last Year 3-8 Overall and 3-5 in the Pioneer. 

• In 2022, Drake opened with a 8 game losing streak before they rattled off three Pioneer League wins to close the season against Stetson, Butler, and Valpo. 

• The start of 2023 isn’t any easier for the Bulldogs as they head to Grand Forks, ND to play North Dakota, face off against NAIA national champions Northwestern, and then travel to Minneapolis for a neutral site game against reigning FCS champions South Dakota State. That’s a three game stretch that no one really wants to face.

• Rating - Sickos Advisory - We think Drake can avoid the 8 game losing streak to start, but their schedule does them no favors. 

Marist

• Last Year 4-7 Overall and 4-4 in the Pioneer

• In 2022, Marist had a rough season under Jim Parady, the longest serving head coach in Division 1. Parady enters his 30th year with the Red Foxes this season. Losses to Columbia and Georgetown started the year, and a loss Bucknell ended it. 

• In 2023, Marist keep the same non-conference opponents but has to make the trip to Columbia and Georgetown. 

• Rating - Sickos Advisory - Not sure enough has changed with Marist to keep them out of the middle to bottom of the Pioneer League.

Morehead State

• Last Year 2-9 Overall and 1-7 in the Pioneer

• After winning 7 games in 2021, Morehead State took a big step back in 2022, winning just two games, including a non-conference win over NAIA Kentucky Christian.

• The Eagles will face D2 West Virginia State, Mercer, and Tarleton State as non-conference opponents in 2023, along with their Pioneer League schedule. 

• Rating - Sickos Advisory - Not sure Morehead State will move much this year, but we’ll wait and see. 

Presbyterian

• Last Year 1-10 Overall and 0-8 in the Pioneer

• The Presby Blue Hose are on hard times. Their last winning season came in 2014, while they were still members of the Big South. More recently, they’ve gone through three coaches in four years, with Steve Englehart entering his second year at the spot.

• In 2022, their single win came against NCCAA Virginia-Lynchburg, who they still have on the schedule for 2023. Other out of conference opponents for the coming year include Murray State and Wofford.

• Rating - Sickos Advisory - The Blue Hose seem to be in college football purgatory - we hope they come out soon. 

San Diego

• Last Year 5-5 Overall and 4-3 in the Pioneer

• The lone West coast member of the conference, San Diego has made the FCS playoffs 7 of the last 9 years under head coach Dale Lindsey. He either retired or was fired at the end of 2022 after a 5-5 season (accounts differ), and new head coach Brandon Moore (previously head coach at  D2 Colorado School of Mines) has big shoes to fill. 

• In non-conference for 2023, they have Cal Poly, D2 Colorado Mesa, and Princeton at home. Their longest trips include cross country treks to face Davidson in North Carolina, Marist in New York, Presby in South Carolina, and Steton in Florida. Big 10 ain’t got nothing on San Diego.

• Rating - Sickos Watch - New coach after a long period of success under the old guard is always worth a Watch. 

Stetson

• Last Year 4-6 Overall and 2-5 in the Pioneer

• The Hatters started 2022 winning two of their first three, and then went on a 5 game Pioneer League slide until winning their home closer against Prebyterian. 

• In 2023, they have non-conference games against NAIA St. Thomas (not the one in their conference), NAIA Louisiana Christian, and a trip to Bozeman to face pre-season ranked Montana State. 

• Rating - Sickos Watch - Stetson return a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and they are a team that might be making moves in the Pioneer. 

St. Thomas (MN)

• Last Year 10-1 Overall and 8-0 in the Pioneer. Conference Champions. Ineligible for the FCS Playoffs because of their transition from Division III to FCS 

• A lot of folks though the Tommies were going to stumble as they made the big jump from D3 to D1, but dear reader, they did not. After losing their first game on the road at Southern Utah, St. Thomas won the next 10 and would have gone to the playoffs if not for NCAA regulations that keep them from post-season play during their transition.

• In his 15th year as head coach, Glenn Caruso will lead the tomies against D2 Black Hills State, South Dakota, and a big road trip to Harvard for non-conference.

• Rating - Sickos Warning - Teams that have a great chance at winning the conference after moving up, despite not being allowed to participate in the playoffs, always get a Warning in my book. 

Valparaiso

• Last Year 5-7 Overall and 4-4 in the Pioneer. 

• I will always love Valpo, because in 2022, they put on their cleats 2 weeks after their season had ended and traveled to Las Cruces to play New Mexico State to help the Aggies be bowl eligible after a canceled game against San Jose State. 

• In 2023, their non-conference schedule includes Youngstown State, NAIA Indiana Wesleyan, and D2 Southwest Minnesota State. 

• Rating - Sickos Watch - Who knows what games the journeymen of Valpo will tack on at the end of the season. We’ll watch them allThis has been an excerpt from the Sickos Committee’s Weather, Travel & Football Master Almanac Notebook.Use Code YESHAHAHAYES off your First Homefield Apparel Purchase