BOWLING GREEN — The Mid-American Conference released its full 2020 football schedule on Wednesday, and Bowling Green will begin and end its league campaign at Doyt Perry Stadium.
BG will play Buffalo, Miami, Kent State. and Northern Illinois at home, and travel to Toledo, Akron, Ohio, and Eastern Michigan during the 2020 season.
The Falcons, who have concluded the regular season against Buffalo in each of the past three seasons, will instead open MAC play against the Bulls on Sept. 26 in Bowling Green. Homecoming at BGSU will take place on Oct. 3 with a nonconference game against Liberty.
The annual rivalry game between Bowling Green and Toledo is scheduled for a Saturday once again, an Oct. 17 date at the Glass Bowl.
Bowling Green will finish the season on Black Friday — Nov. 27 in 2020 — with a home game against Northern Illinois.
Kickoff times and television assignments for the first three games will be announced in late May or early June.
Schedule notables:
1. Bowling Green plays only one #MACtion game.
MAC football might receive its most publicity for weeknight games, but fans almost always prefer Saturdays, and BG has plenty of them.
The Falcons’ lone mid-week #MACtion game is Wednesday Nov. 4 when Kent State visits Doyt Perry Stadium.
The Falcons play 10 games on Saturday. Four of the Falcons’ home games are on Saturdays.
2. The Falcons’ schedule is front-loaded from a rest perspective.
Bowling Green’s schedule has a bad side and a good side.
The bad: the Falcons don’t have an open date until Week 9, and eight straight weeks of football is taxing, especially for a roster that will be on the lean side.
The good: Bowling Green will have lots of extra rest time during the homestretch of the schedule. After BG plays Oct. 24 at Ohio, the Falcons play their final four games over a span of 35 days. The added time can do wonders for a roster, particularly at the end of the season.
3. Bowling Green has a very light travel year.
Bowling Green leaves the state of Ohio a grand total of twice during the entire football season. Once is a nice, easy drive to Ypsilanti, Mich., to play Eastern Michigan — the closest MAC team to BG’s campus after Toledo — and the other is a driveable road game at Illinois.
In-state Bowling Green alums and fans can attend all 12 games this season without a trip to the airport, and the relatively light travel should be a bargain for the Falcons’ players. After they return home from Illinois, the Falcons’ longest bus trip is to Athens to play Ohio.
The Falcons’ full schedule:
Saturday Sept. 5 — at Ohio State
Saturday Sept. 12 — Robert Morris
Saturday Sept. 19 — at Illinois
Saturday Sept. 26 — Buffalo
Saturday Oct. 3 — Liberty
Saturday Oct. 10 — Miami
Saturday Oct. 19 — at Toledo
Saturday Oct. 24 — at Ohio
Wednesday Nov. 4 — at Kent State
Saturday Nov. 14 — at Akron
Saturday Nov. 21 — at Eastern Michigan
Friday Nov. 27 — Northern Illinois
First Published February 26, 2020, 11:57 p.m.
