IRVING, Texas (Jan. 26, 2017) – Conference USA released the 2017 FIU football schedule on Thursday. The 2017 slate will feature six bowl teams from the 2016 season as well as two first-time opponents.
FIU's 2017 schedule is highlighted with games against Boca Raton Bowl and 2016 C-USA champion WKU, Popeyes Bahamas Bowl champion Old Dominion, AutoNation Cure Bowl participant UCF, Foster Farms Bowl participant Indiana, Hawai'i Bowl participant Middle Tennessee and Gildan New Mexico Bowl participant UTSA. In addition, the Panthers will face Rice, Charlotte, Marshall and Florida Atlantic as well as first-time opponents Alcorn State and Tulane.
"This year's schedule will be a good test for our program," Head Coach
Butch Davis said. "We have a challenging first month of the season that I know our team will be ready for. Having the bye week midway through the year will give us a chance to incorporate some new things and gear up for the second half of the season."
C-USA's 14-team alignment in 2017 will feature seven teams in the East Division and seven teams in the West Division. Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and WKU comprise the East Division, while Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP and UTSA make up the West Division.
Each school will play every team in its division once for six games, while playing two cross-over opponents from the opposite division. After having stand-alone schedules for the past four seasons due to realignment, the 2017 season marks the return to a multi-year schedule rotation that will be in place for the next several seasons.
It is important to note that all game dates and times are subject to change, in order to accommodate national television.
A schedule of televised games will be released at a later date. Conference USA's 13th annual Championship Game, pitting the champions of the East and West Divisions, is scheduled for Saturday, December 2.
2017 FIU Football Schedule
Sept. 2 at UCF
Sept. 9 Alcorn State
Sept. 16 at Indiana
Sept. 23 at Rice*
Sept. 30 Charlotte*
Oct. 7 at Middle Tennessee*
Oct. 14 Tulane
Oct. 21 Bye
Oct. 28 at Marshall*
Nov. 4 UTSA*
Nov. 11 Old Dominion*
Nov. 18 at Florida Atlantic*
Nov. 25 WKU*
* denotes Conference USA Games
Home games at Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium are capitalized and bolded;
For FIU football ticket information, contact the University Credit Union Box Office at 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).
#####
For the latest information on Panthers football, follow us on Twitter, @FIUFootball, and check out
Pete Pelegrin's in-depth coverage of FIU Athletics on his official blog, The Prowl, at
www.FIUSports.com.
#####
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
