A breakdown of FIU’s 2022 football schedule that has an issue at end of the season

FIU’s 2022 football schedule, which was released on Tuesday, should perhaps be written in pencil and not in pen.

That’s because the final three games on the schedule — Southern Miss, Old Dominion and Marshall — are against opponents who have all announced their plan to leave Conference USA as of this June.

Those schools will eventually join the Sun Belt Conference, but C-USA this week made clear it plans to hold them to the final year of their contract.

“Conference USA intends to conduct the 2022-2023 athletic year with the full 14-institution membership intact,” read the league’s statement. “The C-USA Board of Directors will exhaust all necessary legal actions to ensure they meet their contractual obligations.”

The Sun Belt will release its schedule next week. Marshall, ODU and Southern Miss are likely to appear on that schedule, too.

Assuming for the moment that C-USA wins this fight, then new FIU coach Mike MacIntyre will play an eight-game league schedule.

FIU, which went 1-11 last year and has lost 18 consecutive games against FBS programs, will have a 2022 schedule equally split home and away. But there are no home games between the Thursday night Sept. 1 opener against Bryant and the Oct. 8 visit by the Connecticut Huskies.

Of FIU’s four non-conference opponents, Bryant is an FCS opponent, Texas State competes in the Sun Belt, and Connecticut and New Mexico State are independents.

Here’s a closer look:

▪ Sept. 1: Bryant: It went 7-4 last year under Chris Merritt, the former coach at Miami Columbus High. Merritt has 20 Floridians on his roster. Merritt had a powerhouse at Columbus (172-45 record) and is 13-14 since arriving at Bryant in 2019.

▪ Sept. 9 at Texas State: This is a Friday night game against a team that went 4-8 last year, beating FIU 23-17 in overtime.

▪ Sept 24 at Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers (9-5) beat FIU 34-19 last year. WKU went on to play in the C-USA title game and then beat Appalachian State, 59-38, in the Boca Raton Bowl.

▪ Oct. 1 at New Mexico State: After going 2-10 last season, there’s a new head coach. He’s Jerry Kill, who has had some successful head-coaching years at the University of Minnesota (two straight 8-5 seasons); Northern Illinois (a 10-3 season); and Southern Illinois (five straight seasons with at least nine wins).

▪ Oct. 8 Connecticut: After going 1-11 last season, the new coach is Jim Mora, the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and the UCLA Bruins.

▪ Oct. 15 FAU: The Owls (5-7) beat FIU last year, 58-21. FAU gained 704 yards, the second-highest total for any game in Owls history. FAU has won five straight games in this series.

▪ Oct. 22 at Charlotte: The 49ers (5-7) beat FIU 45-33 last year.

▪ Oct. 29: Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders (7-6) drilled FIU 50-10 last year.

▪ Nov. 5 at North Texas: The Mean Green (6-7) blitzed FIU 49-7 last year.

▪ Nov. 12 Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles (3-9) beat FIU 37-17 last year.

▪ Nov. 19 at Old Dominion: The Monarchs (6-7) beat FIU 47-24 last year.

▪ Nov. 26 Marshall: The Thundering Herd (7-6) blanked FIU 38-0 last year.

THIS AND THAT

▪ It’s unofficial, but FIU’s spring practices are expected to start on March 8. The spring game is tentatively set for April 9 at 6 p.m.

▪ FIU’s baseball team will open its 2022 season with a four-game series this weekend against Minnesota-based St. Thomas, an FCS program.

▪ FIU’s pitching rotation for this weekend starts with Oregon transfer Patrick Pridgen on Friday. Saturday’s doubleheader will feature Jan Figueroa and Florida transfer Kevin Martin. Sunday’s starter is another Gators transfer, Ryan Cabarcas, and Angel Tiburcio is the likely closer.

▪ FIU’s projected starting lineup will include Jayden Melendez at catcher; Adrian Figueroa at first base; Dante Giardi at second; Steven Ondina at shortstop; Noel Perez at third; Roberto Sotolongo in left; Alec Sanchez in center; Mario Zabala in right; and Matt Gonzalez at designated hitter.

▪ FIU’s men’s basketball team (14-11, 4-8) has just three home games left this season, including Thursday against Middle Tennessee. FIU is 10-3 at home but just 1-8 on the road.