After getting a share of the MEAC title in each of the past two season, North Carolina Central is hoping to claim the crown all by itself in 2016. NCCU’s road map to that elusive sole-title is now set in stone, as it released its 2016 schedule on Thursday.
This schedule is pretty similar to last season in composition. NCCU will face the exact same MEAC opponents, as well as crosstown FBS foe Duke and former CIAA foe St. Augustine’s. It will also get a second FBS payday again in 2016, this time courtesy of Western Michigan.
It’s interesting that they will not play a non-MEAC FCS school for the second year in a row as not doing so pretty much kept them out of the Celebration Bowl race heading into the final week of the season, even though they ultimately did share the MEAC title with North Carolina A&T and Bethune-Cookman.
Getting two FBS paydays definitely makes sense, but it also means that they’ll likely have to go undefeated in the MEAC to get a Celebration Bowl bid, as a lack of an FCS win could come back to bite them.
Money Games: at Duke (Sept. 3), at Western Michigan (Sept. 10)
Homecoming Game: Savannah State (Oct. 15)
Rivalry Game: North Carolina A&T (Nov. 19)
Your comments are similar to what I posted on another HBCU blog. This schedule provides evidence Central is not serious about getting an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs. Those first two games are automatic L’s and St. Aug is one of the worst teams in the CIAA. Unless the MEAC improves dramatically this year, the Eagles will need to win the conference outright to make it to the postseason. I understand schedules are made years in advance. Lets up NCCU’s AD will schedule better moving forward.