CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After one season as a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) independent, the University of North Alabama will compete in the Big South Conference in 2019 with a seven-game league schedule released by the conference office Tuesday.
The Big South has had a member school reach the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs five times in the last six seasons and in 2019, each school will play a seven-game league slate for the first time that will determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the postseason. As a transitioning school into Division I, North Alabama is not eligible for any NCAA post-season games until 2022.
"We're excited and looking forward to playing in the Big South," said UNA Head Football Coach
Chris Willis. "It has been a strong league for some time and I think that adding us and Hampton will only make it stronger.
"Our first year in the league will be about playing new teams in new places and really sizing people up to see what we're up against," Willis added. "Every team in the league was competitive last year so it will be a challenge."
North Alabama's 2019 conference schedule opens on October 5 in Hampton, Va., against another new member of the Big South, Hampton University.
The Lions will host their first home Big South game on October 19 against Charleston Southern. That will also serve as UNA's Homecoming for 2019.
On October 26, UNA will travel to defending conference champion and 2018 FCS quarterfinalist Kennesaw State before hosting Campbell in Florence on November 2. The Lions then have back-to-back road games at Monmouth in West Long Branch, N.J., on November 9 and Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C., on November 16 before closing the regular season at home on November 23 against Presbyterian.
The Big South, which is 100-63 ( 61.3 percent) against non-conference FCS opponents since 2013 (including playoffs), is coming off another successful season in 2018. The league reached the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, had its third national Top 8 seed in the postseason and highest-ever at No. 4 (Kennesaw State), had the runner-up for the FCS Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year honor (Kennesaw State's Brian Bohannon) and has one of the three national finalists for the Walter Payton Award (Kennesaw State's Chandler Burks).
2019 Big South Football Conference Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 5
Presbyterian at Campbell
North Alabama at Hampton
Saturday, Oct. 12
Charleston Southern at Kennesaw State
Hampton at Gardner-Webb
Presbyterian at Monmouth
Saturday, Oct. 19
Hampton at Campbell
Charleston Southern at North Alabama
Gardner-Webb at Monmouth
Kennesaw State at Presbyterian
Saturday, Oct. 26
Campbell at Gardner-Webb
Monmouth at Charleston Southern
North Alabama at Kennesaw State
Saturday, Nov. 2
Campbell at North Alabama
Charleston Southern at Gardner-Webb
Presbyterian at Hampton
Monmouth at Kennesaw State
Saturday, Nov. 9
Kennesaw State at Campbell
Hampton at Charleston Southern
Gardner-Webb at Presbyterian
North Alabama at Monmouth
Saturday, Nov. 16
Monmouth at Campbell
Charleston Southern at Presbyterian
North Alabama at Gardner-Webb
Kennesaw State at Hampton
Saturday, Nov. 23
Campbell at Charleston Southern
Gardner-Webb at Kennesaw State
Hampton at Monmouth
Presbyterian at North Alabama
