Western Carolina football has added a pair of FBS opponents to its future football calendar.
The Catamounts will play at Cincinnati on Sept, 12, 2026 and will renew their series with in-state foe East Carolina on Sept. 4, 2027.
WCU, which plays in the FCS Southern Conference, has not shied away from scheduling FBS road trips across the country — or state — in recent years. The Catamounts have traveled for September games to Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and North Carolina the past four seasons. That’s two ACC foes, and one each from the SEC and Big 12.
Western Carolina (7-4 in 2023) will open the 2024 campaign at NC State on Thursday, Aug. 29 and has other future games on the calendar at Wake Forest (2025) and Georgia (2031).
The game against East Carolina has not been publicly announced by either school. It was reported by FBSchedules.com on Tuesday, with information obtained via a state public records request.
WCU and ECU have met on the gridiron 31 times before, dating back to 1936, The last contest came in 2016, a 52-7 triumph by the Pirates. East Carolina leads the overall series 18-13, winning the last eight. The Catamounts’ most recent victory came 20-16 in Cullowhee in 1962. WCU won eight of the first 10 meetings, all prior to 1950.
Western Carolina has played Cincinnati once before, a 7-3 win by the Bearcats in 2005. Cincy joined the Big 12 in 2023.
East Carolina appears to have filled out its slate of non-conference opponents for 2025 and 2026, and now has three non-conference games scheduled for 2027. Notable future opponents for the Pirates include NC State, Coastal Carolina, BYU, West Virginia, Wake Forest and South Carolina.
Western Carolina Future Non-Conference Opponents
(Source: FBSchedules.com)
- 2025: Gardner-Webb, at Wake Forest, Elon, at Campbell
- 2026: at Cincinnati
- 2027: at East Carolina
- 2031: at Georgia
East Carolina Future Non-Conference Opponents
(Source: FBSchedules.com)
- 2025: at NC State, Campbell, at Coastal Carolina, BYU
- 2026: North Carolina Central, Appalachian State, West Virginia, at Old Dominion
- 2027: Western Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia State
- 2028: NC State, Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, at Wake Forest
- 2029: at Old Dominion, Liberty
- 2030: Norfolk State, at South Carolina, at Old Dominion
- 2031: Old Dominion
