The 2026 South Atlantic Conference football season is starting to take shape as teams from across the Division II league release their full schedules. Lenoir-Rhyne became the first North Carolina team in the conference to unveil its 2026 game lineup. Only conference matchups are known at this point for Catawba, Mars Hill and Wingate.
Read below for 2026 South Atlantic Conference football schedule highlights and to find links to full schedule pages for North Carolina’s teams.
South Atlantic Conference football schedules officially released:
Click on a North Carolina team name to view its schedule page:
Lenoir-Rhyne Bears – Full schedule released 2/10
Catawba Indians – Conference games only
Mars Hill Lions – Conference games only
Wingate Bulldogs – Conference games only
🧭 South Atlantic Conference Scheduling Format (2026)
The South Atlantic Conference enters the 2026 season with a 10-team football membership and a straightforward scheduling format.
- Each team will play nine conference games, competing in a full round-robin slate.
- The SAC will not use divisions, a format the league had adopted when there were 12 teams in the league in 2022-24.
- There will be no conference championship game, with the regular-season standings determining the league champion and D2 playoff automatic qualifier.
The 2026 season marks the first year in several cycles with stable SAC football membership, following recent changes that saw Barton depart the league after the 2024 season and Limestone University discontinue athletics in spring 2025.
🔍 Schedule Spotlight: Lenoir-Rhyne Opens Under Friday-Night Lights
The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears face one of the most demanding early season slates in Division II, pairing national-level non-conference tests with an immediate plunge into elite South Atlantic Conference play.
The Bears open with a Friday, Aug. 28 home game against West Florida from the Gulf South Conference. The “Week 0” contest is a return game from 2025, won by the Argonauts 48-21. West Florida went on to win 10 games in 2025 and make the D2 playoffs.
West Alabama, also from the Gulf South, comes to Hickory the following Saturday, Sept. 5. This will be a rematch of the 2024 playoffs, won by Lenoir-Rhyne 37-34 when Jake Brown kicked his third field goal of the day in the final minutes. West Alabama went 5-4 a year ago.
The SAC gauntlet begins with a trip to Newberry (12-2 in 2025) on Sept. 12 with the Bishop’s Trophy on the line.. The Wolves are the reigning conference champions and won three playoff games a year ago before falling to Ferris State in the D2 semis.
Home games with teeth: Wingate visits for homecoming (!) on Oct. 17. The Bulldogs won the SAC in 2024 and went to the playoffs last season. Mars Hill, Carson-Newman and Tusculum also come to Moretz Stadium as part of a six-pack of home games.
Lenoir-Rhyne finished 6-5 overall and 5-4 in the SAC last season and enters Year 3 under head coach Doug Socha, who is 16-8 in his first two seasons at the helm.
👉 View Lenoir-Rhyne’s full 2026 football schedule
2026 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE REVEAL ⬇️
Can’t wait to see you guys pack out Moretz this fall!
🐻🏈#GOBEARS | #BetweenTheBricks | #W1N pic.twitter.com/cmktduWCYu — Lenoir-Rhyne Football (@LRBearsFootball) February 10, 2026
Still awaiting full schedules for Catawba, Mars Hill, Wingate
The SAC has already set its week-by-week conference schedule for all 10 teams. Now, we are awaiting for everything to be cemented by individual schools and for non-conference matchups to be revealed.
We know from Winston-Salem State’s recent schedule release that Mars Hill will visit the Rams on Sept. 5. Mars Hill also has announced its spring game for Saturday, April 18.
Here are all of the in-state SAC match-ups, per the conference’s schedule grid:
- Catawba at Mars Hill – Week 2 (Sept. 12)
- Mars Hill at Lenoir-Rhyne – Week 3 (Sept. 19)
- Wingate at Catawba – Week 5 (Oct. 3)
- Wingate at Lenoir-Rhyne – Week 7 (Oct. 17)
- Lenoir-Rhyne at Catawba – Week 11 (Nov. 14)
- Wingate at Mars Hill – Week 11 (Nov. 14)
👉 View Catawba’s full 2026 football schedule
👉 View Mars Hill’s full 2026 football schedule
👉 View Wingate’s full 2026 football schedule
Looking for more North Carolina college football schedules?
🏫 Team Schedules Hub – Browse full-season schedules for all 33 North Carolina college programs
🗓️ Weekly Master Schedule – View all games organized by week
