ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats on Friday released their 2012 football schedule, and has become custom over the last five years, it's one of the toughest slates in NCAA Division II football.
Aside from their eight-game Lone Star Conference schedule, the Wildcats will be taking on two teams from the Gulf South Conference that reached the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2011 and will play another game at Cowboys Stadium as part of the three-day Lone Star Football Festival in Arlington.
Also on the schedule is the season-opener against McMurry, which will be playing as an NCAA Division II institution for the first time in 2012. ACU and McMurry have a two-year contract with the Wildcats serving as the home team both seasons. This year's game will be played Saturday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium.
The Wildcats and WarHawks last played in 1971 with ACU taking a 53-20 victory. ACU owns a 24-15 all-time series advantage over McMurry. The last WarHawks' win in the series was a 16-3 win in 1968.
The highlight of the Wildcats' 2012 schedule is the Sept. 15 game against Tarleton State in Cowboys Stadium. That game will be played at 4 p.m. as part of a Saturday afternoon tripleheader. ACU played North Alabama in last year's inaugural Lone Star Football Festival, falling 23-16 to the Lions.
"We're really excited to be able to go back to Cowboys Stadium and take part in the Lone Star Football Festival," ACU head coach
Ken Collums said. "Our players had a great experience playing in the greatest football stadium in the country, and we're looking forward to another great experience. We had great fan support that afternoon, and hopefully we can see at least that many ACU fans at the stadium this year."
The two other schedule highlights are games against Delta State (Miss.) and West Alabama, both of the Gulf South Conference.
The Wildcats will make their first trip to Mississippi on Sept. 29 to take on the Statesmen in what should be one of the top non-conference matchups in the country in 2012. The Statesmen were ranked No. 1 in the country last season and reached the national semifinals.
On Nov. 3, the Wildcats will host West Alabama in their final home game of the regular season. The Wildcats and Tigers have never met on the football field. West Alabama also reached the national playoffs last season.
The two games against the Gulf South Conference schools are part of a two-year scheduling agreement between the GSC and Lone Star Conference.
"We're excited about the schedule that we'll play in 2012," ACU director of athletics
Jared Mosley said. "Once again, it's one of the toughest schedules in the country, and that's always a challenge. But our coaching staff has done a tremendous job of building a nationally competitive program, and we always want to schedule in a way that provides them the necessary competition to make a run at the playoffs each year."
Aside from those games, the Wildcats will host Texas A&M-Kingsville (Sept. 8), Eastern New Mexico (Oct. 6) and defending LSC champion Midwestern State (Oct. 20) at Shotwell Stadium. ACU will hit the road for games at Angelo State (Sept. 22), Delta State (Sept. 29), West Texas A&M (Oct. 13), Texas A&M-Commerce (Oct. 27) and Incarnate Word (Nov. 10).
The Wildcats will enter the 2012 season seeking their seventh straight bid to the NCAA Division II national playoffs. ACU finished 8-3 last year in former head coach Chris Thomsen's final season at the helm, falling to Washburn (Kan.) in the first round of the playoffs.
Collums – who took over after Thomsen resigned in mid-December to take an assistant coaching job at Arizona State – will be leading the Wildcats in a new Super Region in 2012. With NCAA regional realignment, the LSC is now in Super Region III along with schools from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC), Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference (RMAC).
|
Date |
Opponent |
Site |
Time |
|
Sat., Sept. 1 |
vs. McMurry |
Abilene |
6 p.m. |
|
Sat., Sept. 8 |
* vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville |
Abilene |
6 p.m. |
|
Sat., Sept. 15 |
* vs. Tarleton State |
Arlington |
4 p.m. |
|
Sat., Sept. 22 |
* at Angelo State |
San Angelo |
6 p.m. |
|
Sat., Sept. 29 |
at Delta State |
Cleveland, Miss. |
6:30 p.m. |
|
Sat., Oct. 6 |
* vs. Eastern New Mexico |
Abilene |
6 p.m. |
|
Sat., Oct. 13 |
* at West Texas A&M |
Canyon |
6 p.m. |
|
Sat., Oct. 20 |
* vs. Midwestern State (Homecoming) |
Abilene |
2 p.m. |
|
Sat., Oct. 27 |
* at Texas A&M-Commerce |
Commerce |
2 p.m. |
|
Sat., Nov. 3 |
vs. West Alabama |
Abilene |
12 p.m. |
|
Sat., Nov. 10 |
* at Incarnate Word |
San Antonio |
7 p.m. |
|
Sat., Nov. 17 |
NCAA Playoffs (first round) |
|
|
|
Sat., Nov. 24 |
NCAA Playoffs (second round) |
|
|
|
Sat., Dec. 1 |
NCAA Playoffs (quarterfinals) |
|
|
|
Sat., Dec. 8 |
NCAA Playoffs (semifinals) |
|
|
|
Sat., Dec. 15 |
NCAA Division II Championship |
Florence, Ala. |
|
* Lone Star Conference game
