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Middle Tennessee

Blue Raiders · Conference USA

Head coach Derek Mason Year 2 with Middle Tennessee

Year-2 HCs (2015-2024) averaged +0.09 W vs SP+ expected · n=47

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
4.4
Expected wins
4-8
Proj record
1 to 8
Win range (90%)
#122 (102–134)
Final rank (90%)
0%
Make playoff
2%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

0%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Murray State
    Home · Sep 5
  • vs Nevada
    Home · Sep 19
  • vs Delaware
    Home · Oct 13
  • at Florida International
    Away · Oct 20

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2025

41 PCI
  • Quarterback 50% (2/4 players)
  • Offensive line 33% (6/18 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 26% (9/35 players)
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 53% (18/34 players)
  • Secondary 50% (10/20 players)
  • Special teams 29% (2/7 players)

PCI weights returning production by position group (QB/OL heaviest). 70%+ is healthy continuity; 45-70% is a normal rebuild; below 45% is a meaningful turnover.

If QB1 is out (Nick Vattiato)

GIE projects a 4.7 rating drop and a 18.8pp shift in playoff probability if Middle Tennessee loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=3 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 36.5% 47th — average
  • Red-zone TD rate 13.6% 37th — below avg
  • 4th-down aggression 36.5% 52th — average
  • Late & close 4.8 yds/play 42th — below avg

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Middle Tennessee: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Middle Tennessee sits at 3–9 after a 31–24 road win over New Mexico State in Week 14, a result that halted a rough stretch but didn't fundamentally alter the trajectory. The Blue Raiders hold a rating of –16 and rank 127th per GIE,…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.