Athletics Department releases FAMU’s 2018 football schedule

 FAMU football's 2018 MEAC conference schedule
 | Photo credit: Photo: FAMU athletics

Florida A&M’s Athletic Department released the 2018 football schedule for its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents on Tuesday. The schedule, while seemingly normal at first glance, raises some important questions about the upcoming season.

FAMU’s 2018 matchups in the MEAC are similar to the matchups in recent years. According to the schedule, the Rattlers will face Savannah State (Sept.22), Norfolk State (Oct. 6), Hampton (Oct. 20), and Morgan State (Oct 27) at Bragg Stadium. The games against North Carolina Central (Sept. 29), North Carolina A&T (Oct. 13), and Howard University (Nov. 3) will be on the road with the Florida Classic against Bethune-Cookman University (Nov. 17) being in Orlando.

The home game against Hampton is unlikely to remain on the schedule though, as Hampton announced that it will be trying to immediately drop its MEAC schedule so it can quickly join the Big South conference. With the crucial home game likely to be changed, it is unclear who the Rattler’s opponent will be on Oct. 20.

The Pirates’ possible conference exit also calls FAMU’s homecoming game into question. The homecoming game for the last few years has taken place in mid to late October. This means that it is likely that the Pirates were going to be the homecoming opponent. It is possible that the homecoming game could take place against Morgan State, which is also a home game in October, but that has yet to be confirmed.

With the fate of FAMU’s schedule largely out of their hands, the Rattlers wait to see what developments occur.