MEAC releases 2006 Football Schedule
10 Classics and 36 Conference
Match-ups Highlight the Season
May 16, 2006
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference (MEAC) Commissioner Dennis
E. Thomas officially released the league’s
2006 Football Schedule today. The MEAC schedule
is comprised of 59 total games, including 36
conference match-ups, played over 12 weeks. Nine
of the league’s 11 members participate
in football.
The 2006 MEAC Football season opens on September
2 with a full schedule of Labor Day Weekend
action, including four classic games. The second
annual Ford MEAC-SWAC Challenge featuring the
two defending champions from both conferences – Hampton
vs. Grambling State – will kick off the
day at noon (ET) at Legion Field in Birmingham. Florida
A&M and Delaware State follow with an early
conference meeting in the Ford Labor Day Classic
at 1 p.m. Virginia State and Norfolk State
battle at the annual Virginia Lottery Labor
Day Classic in Norfolk, while Bethune-Cookman
takes on the second SWAC opponent of the weekend – Southern
University in the annual Gateway Classic at
Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
Overall, MEAC teams will participate in 10
classic games this year, none larger than the
season ending game between arch-rivals Florida
A&M and Bethune-Cookman in the Walt Disney
World Florida Classic at the Florida Citrus
Bowl in Orlando, Fla. The Florida Classic,
along with the Ford Classic and the NY
Urban League Classic between Hampton and Morgan
State (Sept. 23) all feature conference-match-ups
at neutral sites.
Two of the 23 non-conference games are against
Division I-A opponents. Florida A&M travels
to Miami (Fla.) to take on the Hurricanes on
September 9, and Howard will face Big East
member Rutgers on September 23. Other
non-conference action highlights premiere contests
with I-AA opponents: Coastal Carolina and VMI
(Big South); Wofford and Elon of the Southern
conference; Northwestern State (Southland)
and Northeast conference member St. Francis
(PA)
Seven MEAC games will appear on ESPNU, which
includes a few Thursday night games. The MEAC-SWAC
Challenge will be televised live on ESPN2 at
noon (ET). The MEAC will announce the 2006
television package with ESPN in the coming
weeks.
The MEAC Football Press Luncheon is scheduled
for July 28 at the Sheraton Ocean Front Hotel
at Noon in Virginia Beach, Va. For
ticket information call (757) 416-7100.
MEAC Composite Football Schedule
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