The Big South Conference announced today its revised football conference schedule for the spring season to accommodate previous postponements due to COVID concerns.  Games involving Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Monmouth, and Robert Morris have been adjusted, and the season will now end on Saturday, April 17.  Below is the updated conference schedule, and future schedule adjustments may be announced at any time.

Saturday, March 27 (no change)

Charleston Southern at Monmouth

Kennesaw State at Gardner-Webb

Saturday, April 3

Monmouth at Gardner-Webb

Robert Morris at Kennesaw State (no change)

Saturday, April 10

Robert Morris at Charleston Southern

Kennesaw State at Monmouth (no change)

Saturday, April 17

Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern

Monmouth at Robert Morris

TBD

Gardner-Webb at Robert Morris

Future schedule adjustments may be announced at any time

NORFOLK, VA (MEACSports.com) – The Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference released its spring 2021 football schedule on Monday, a slate of
games which reflect unique divisional scheduling due to some members opting out
of playing in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference’s spring football regular season will kick
off on Feb. 20, 2021 and will conclude on April 3. An inaugural championship
game will take place on April 17, the winner advancing to the NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs a week later.

With Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M both meeting the
conference’s Nov. 16 opt-out deadline to not compete in spring football, the
field of teams playing football in the spring was narrowed to seven teams –
Delaware State, Howard, Morgan State and Norfolk State, which will comprise the
MEAC’s Northern Division, and North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina
Central and South Carolina State, which will compete in the Southern Division.

The new schedule approved by the MEAC’s athletics directors
calls for the Northern Division teams to play four conference games within the
division, including each institution playing one opponent twice. In the
Southern Division, each of the three members will play each other twice, for a
total of four games.

Teams from both divisions have open dates where they may
choose to play non-conference games.

The Northern and Southern Division teams with the best
records will square off for the MEAC championship on the campus of the team
with the best conference record on April 17.

Spring 2021 MEAC Football Schedule

Saturday, February 20

Delaware State at Morgan State*

NC Central at SC State*

Norfolk State at Howard*

Saturday, February 27

SC State at North Carolina A&T*

Saturday, March 6

Howard at Delaware State*

NC Central at North Carolina A&T*

Norfolk State at Morgan State*

Saturday, March 20

Delaware State at Norfolk State*

Morgan State at Howard*

SC State at NC Central*

Saturday, March 27

North Carolina A&T at SC State*

Saturday, April 3

Howard at Norfolk State*

Morgan State at Delaware State*

North Carolina A&T at NC Central*

Saturday, April 10

Delaware at Delaware State

Saturday, April 17

MEAC Championship

*denotes conference game

CHARLOTTE (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The Big South Conference today announced its 2021 spring football schedule will feature five teams playing a four-game conference slate to determine the Big South’s automatic qualifier to the FCS Playoffs.  The five teams competing will be Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Kennesaw State, Monmouth and Robert Morris.  Big South football members Campbell, North Alabama and Hampton will not compete during the spring season.

Robert Morris, which was added as an associate member on June 15 and was scheduled to begin play in the Big South in the fall of 2021, will instead be an official conference opponent in the upcoming spring campaign and will be eligible for the Big South championship and automatic berth to the postseason.

League play features two games a week starting Saturday, March 13 with defending Big South champion Monmouth at newcomer and former conference rival Robert Morris, while Charleston Southern will visit Kennesaw State.  Gardner-Webb will open its Big South season Saturday, March 20 at home against Monmouth.  The regular-season is currently scheduled to end Saturday, April 10 with GWU at RMU and KSU and MU.

Contingencies were built into the schedule to allow flexibility for completing the conference season in full, and the week of April 11-17 has been left open to allow any games impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to be made up.  Big South members are also permitted to play up to four (4) non-conference games during the spring.

Below is the 2021 composite league schedule, which is subject to change and other adjustments.

2021 Big South Football Conference Spring Schedule

Saturday, March 13

Charleston Southern at Kennesaw State

Monmouth at Robert Morris

Saturday, March 20

Robert Morris at Charleston Southern

Monmouth at Gardner-Webb

Saturday, March 27

Charleston Southern at Monmouth

Kennesaw State at Gardner-Webb

Saturday, April 3

Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern

Robert Morris at Kennesaw State

Saturday, April 10

Gardner-Webb at Robert Morris

Kennesaw State at Monmouth

Charlotte announced today the football game scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, against North Carolina has been canceled. The decision was made due to the impact that contact tracing quarantine has had on a key position group. Several members of the offensive line were placed into quarantine following the University’s COVID-19 contact tracing protocols, effectively depleting that unit.

Over the past two weeks, there have been three positive cases of coronavirus in football student-athletes found through regular testing required by Conference USA. The individuals are in isolation receiving proper medical care, and all other affected individuals were notified to quarantine for 14 days by University contact tracers.

"We're extremely disappointed to have to cancel our game at North Carolina. While I know our team is heartbroken, due to the number of players in quarantine, we could not safely play,” said Athletic Director Mike Hill. “We very much appreciate the University of North Carolina having scheduled this game with us. Unfortunately, we do not currently share any common open dates to reschedule."

As of Monday, Sept. 14, a total of 3,150 tests have been administered for our student-athletes, coaches and staff since June 10.  A total of 20 positive cases have been reported. On Monday, 200 tests were administered with one positive.

This announcement does not impact the status of the home opener versus Georgia State scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26.

After previously losing all four of their originally scheduled 2020 nonconference opponents – Morgan State, Wisconsin, Wake Forest and Massachusetts – the Mountaineers added a Sept. 12 home game against Charlotte on Wednesday before scheduling the Campbell addition. Per the Sun Belt Conference’s Aug. 4 decision to allow each league school to play up to four nonconference games in addition to the eight-game league slate, Appalachian State can still add up to two more games to its fall schedule.

“We are pleased to add another home game against an in-state school to the 2020 schedule,” App State Director of Athletics Doug Gillin said. “We continue to follow guidance from health officials, university leadership and the Sun Belt Conference to provide the safest environment for the return of sports on our campus. We hope to safely welcome App State students, season ticket holders and visiting teams to Kidd Brewer Stadium this fall, following the latest public health protocols.”

The Big South announced Wednesday that it is delaying its fall sport seasons (with the intent of playing in the spring), but its institutions may play up to four nonconference football games in the fall. The game is the second date on the Camels revised 2020 football schedule, joining the previously announced contest at Georgia Southern, another Sun Belt team, on September 12. 

App State and Campbell have played twice before, both in Boone. The Mountaineers won 20-6 in 1931 and 66-0 in 2014.