The ink is barely dry on the FCS season in our state, and already we know the 2025 Western Carolina football schedule.
The Southern Conference released its league schedule last week, and that brings into focus the Catamounts’ 12-game slate for next season.
Western Carolina football will kick off the 2025 schedule on Aug. 30, hosting Gardner-Webb. This will be the 10th meeting between the schools since the calendar rolled into the 2000s. The teams last played in September 2021, with the Bulldogs rolling to a 52-34 triumph in Boiling Springs.
WCU will tackle an ACC foe for the second year in a row, traveling to Wake Forest in week two. The Catamounts and Deacs have met just three times in the past, the most recent coming in 1991, a 40-24 Wake Forest triumph.
Other non-conference foes for Western Carolina include Elon (home) and Campbell (away). The Catamounts played both squads in 2024, winning at Elon but losing a stunner to the Camels at home in the early season.
SoCon play begins Sept. 20 with a home game against Samford (the third home game of the season by that point). The Bulldogs were 4-7 this season. Other home Southern Conference opponents include defending champion Mercer (11-3, 7-1), Furman (3-8) and East Tennessee State (7-5).
SoCon road trips for the Catamounts include Wofford (5-7), The Citadel (5-7), Chattanooga (7-5) and VMI (1-11).
Western Carolina is still seeking that elusive first Southern Conference championship. The Catamounts came close this season, placing second behind Mercer with a 6-2 league mark (7-5 overall). WCU has not been to the playoffs since the 1983 team advanced to the I-AA championship game.
Kerwin Bell is slated to return for his fifth year at Western Carolina. The Catamounts, who extended their head coach through 2030, have had three winning seasons over the last four years, including a pair of seven-win campaigns in 2023 and 2024. WCU is 20-14 against the SoCon during that stretch.
For more information on 2025 Western Carolina football season tickets, click HERE.
2025 Western Carolina Football Schedule
- Aug. 30: GARDNER-WEBB
- Sept. 6: at Wake Forest
- Sept. 13: ELON
- Sept. 20: SAMFORD*
- Sept. 27: at Campbell
- Oct. 4: at Wofford*
- Oct. 11: FURMAN*
- Oct. 18: at The Citadel*
- Oct. 25: BYE
- Nov. 1: at Chattanooga*
- Nov. 8: MERCER*
- Nov. 15: EAST TENNESSEE STATE*
- Nov. 22: at VMI*
- * Denotes Southern Conference Game
Future Western Carolina Football Opponents | Non-Conference
2026: at Campbell (Sept. 5), at Cincinnati (Sept. 12), Presbyterian (Sept. 19)
2027: at East Carolina (Sept. 4), Campbell (Sept. 18)
2031: at Georgia
Western Carolina Football Headlines
- 2024 NC College Football Defensive Leaders: Tackles-For-Loss, Sacks, Interceptions
- FCS Stat Champions: Gardner-Webb’s Jay Billingsley scored most points, hit longest FG
- Fabulous 15: Western Carolina’s 801-Yard Offensive Explosion Tops NC in 2024
- Fabulous 15: UNC Pembroke Headlines NC’s Highest Scoring Games of 2024
- FCS Stat Champions: Campbell’s Jalen Brooks led state with 118 tackles
