For the third straight year, the FCS will have the college football stage all to itself on the mother of all sports networks.
Five-time defending national champions North Dakota State will host last year's Big South champs Charleston Southern on August 27 at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN.
Breaking:
NDSU to host Charleston Southern on 8/27 at 6:30pm to open 2016 season on ESPN https://t.co/miM3EqdXEL pic.twitter.com/1LdGKmv6ta
— NDSU Athletics (@NDSUathletics) March 15, 2016
This will be the first ever matchup between the two schools, and kudos to each university for having the guts to schedule such a difficult opener. Charleston Southern also plays Florida State early in the year while NDSU follows up the season opener with contests against Eastern Washington and Iowa.
The Bison lost last year's FCS Kickoff 38-35 to Montana. In 2014, Eastern Washington defended its red turf by knocking off Sam Houston State 56-35.
Unprecedented TV exposure under Chadwell (28-10). #FCSKickoff will put CSU on ESPN2 and ESPN in back-to-back games. pic.twitter.com/ayVKCrSQRP
— Charleston Southern (@csusports) March 15, 2016
Although the Bison and Buccaneers will get the FCS season started, the official beginning of the college football 2016 campaign belongs to California and Hawaii who will play earlier in the day in Melbourne, Australia.
