The Alabama Crimson Tide have added the Western Carolina Catamounts to their 2019 football schedule, FBSchedules.com has learned.
Alabama will host Western Carolina at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 23, 2019. The Catamounts will receive a $525,000 guarantee for the game, per a copy of the contract obtained from Western Carolina University via a state public records request.
Western Carolina competes in the Southern Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). WCU finished the 2017 season 7-5 overall and 5-3 in SoCon play.
Alabama and Western Carolina first met on the gridiron in 2004 and have played four times overall. The Crimson Tide won all four meetings by a combined score of 201-20.
The addition of Western Carolina tentatively completes Alabama’s 2019 non-conference schedule. Alabama is scheduled to open the 2019 season vs. Duke at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Crimson Tide are also slated to host New Mexico State (Sept. 7) and Southern Miss (Sept. 21) in Tuscaloosa.
In SEC play in 2019, Alabama is scheduled to host Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, and Tennessee and play at Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, and South Carolina.
Update:
After posting this story, we were informed that Mark Jennings first reported on the Alabama-Western Carolina matchup last summer.