GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T released their 2016 football schedule on Tuesday. It includes one Division II opponent, two Division I-FBS foes and an abundance of teams trying to take down the back-to-back Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference co-champion and the defending Black College National Champion Aggies.
“It is a tough schedule, there is no getting around that,” said head coach Rod Broadway who will enter the 2016 season with a 38-19 (.667) record at N.C. A&T. “We play two excellent FBS schools in consecutive weeks, and I think our conference gets stronger every year. It’s going to be a challenge for our football team, but we’re up to it. We’re going to go play wherever they put the football down and try to be successful.”
The Aggies will prepare for the 2016 season with the start of spring practice on March 14. The Aggies annual Blue & Gold Spring Game is 1 p.m., Saturday, April 16 at Aggie Stadium. [easyazon_infoblock align=”right” cart=”y” identifier=”B00EEJNJRE” locale=”US” tag=”hbcusports-20″]
N.C. A&T opens the season with a team it has not faced since 1935 in St. Augustine’s University. St. Augustine’s, who plays in the Division II CIAA conference, will face the Aggies at 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 3 at Aggie Stadium. The Aggies won the last meeting 33-0 on Nov. 16, 1935 in Raleigh. The Aggies next two opponents are FBS foes with more allotted scholarships. Kent State, members of the Mid-American Conference, will invite the Aggies to Dix Stadium on Sept. 10. The next week N.C. A&T will travel to Tulsa, Okla., to face the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes of the American Athletic Conference at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
Fortunately, after playing back-to-back FBS opponents, the Aggies will get a week off before starting conference play against Hampton at 1 p.m., Oct. 1 at Aggie Stadium. The Aggies have won their last two matchups against the Pirates after losing the previous eight. Norfolk State returns to Aggie Stadium for the first time in four years as the Spartans and the Aggies will tussle at 1 p.m., on Oct. 8.
The Aggies will play at Bethune-Cookman (4 p.m., Oct. 15) and at Howard (Oct. 22) over the next two weeks. The Aggies last win in Daytona Beach, Fla., came in 2003. They have won seven of their last eight over Howard.
Florida A&M is the invited guest for the Greatest Homecoming on Earth scheduled for 1 p.m., Oct. 29. The Aggies trail the all-time series against the Rattlers 44-17-3 but are in the midst of their longest ever winning streak of the series, four straight victories. The Aggies close out the regular season at home against S.C. State (Nov. 5), at Delaware State (Nov. 12) and at North Carolina Central (Nov. 19).
The Aggies defeated the Bulldogs in a thrilling 9-6 win at S.C. State last season. The Hornets and the Aggies have each won 22 games in the series. NCCU, the Aggies chief rival, has earned a share of the conference title each of the last two years by defeating N.C. A&T.
The Aggies are coming off a 10-2 season. They finished tied for first with B-CU and NCCU with a 7-1 mark in the MEAC. N.C. A&T won the tiebreaker to represent the MEAC in the inaugural Air Force Celebration Bowl where they defeated Alcorn State 41-34 to propel them to their first Black College National Championship in 16 years.
2016 North Carolina A&T Football Schedule
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME (ET) |
| Sat, Sep 03 | St. Augustine’s | Aggie Stadium | 6:00 PM |
| Sat, Sep 10 | Kent State | at Kent, Ohio | TBA |
| Sat, Sep 17 | Tulsa | at Tulsa, Oklahoma | TBA |
| Sat, Oct 01 | Hampton * | Aggie Stadium | 1:00 PM |
| Sat, Oct 08 | Norfolk State * | Aggie Stadium | 1:00 PM |
| Sat, Oct 15 | Bethune-Cookman * | at Daytona Beach, Fla. | 4:00 PM |
| Sat, Oct 22 | Howard * | at Washington, D.C. | TBA |
| Sat, Oct 29 | Florida A&M (Homecoming) * | Aggie Stadium | 1:00 PM |
| Sat, Nov 05 | S.C. State * | Aggie Stadium | 1:00 PM |
| Sat, Nov 12 | Delaware State * | at Aggie Stadium | 2:00 PM |
| Sat, Nov 19 | N.C. Central * | at Durham, N.C. | 2:00 PM |
Courtesy: NCA&T Athletics
