The Charlotte 49ers have pulled out of their 2013 football game at the Old Dominion Monarchs, Harry Minium of The Virginian-Pilot has reported.
According to the report, Charlotte notified ODU earlier this week and the cancellation was just revealed at the Conference USA Media Day today in Irving, Texas.
The game was slated to be played at Foreman Field in Norfolk on Nov. 16 and was set for a broadcast on Fox College Sports (FCS) at noon ET.
The 2013 game was part of a home-and-home series that was to conclude in 2014. But just last week, Old Dominion canceled the Oct. 25, 2014 game in an effort to strengthen their schedule. That apparently caused a scheduling dispute between the two schools and C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky was even asked to mediate.
Old Dominion now has less than four months to schedule a game for the open Nov. 16 date. ODU also has open dates on Oct. 12 and Nov. 30.
Meanwhile, sources told The Pilot that Charlotte had already lined up an FCS opponent for Sept. 21 before canceling the 2013 game at Old Dominion. That game is apparently at James Madison, according to David Teel of the Daily Press.
The 2013 football season will be the first on the field for Charlotte’s program. They will compete as an FCS Independent for two seasons before moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2015 and joining Conference USA.
Old Dominion will be classified as an FCS Independent for the 2013 season. They are moving up to the FBS in 2014 and will play a full Conference USA schedule.
Update (11:15 p.m. ET)
Charlotte has replaced the canceled Old Dominion game in 2013 with a game at James Madison on Sept. 21.
Old Dominion has replaced the canceled game with a home game vs. Campbell on Nov. 16.
As we reported earlier today, Old Dominion has added a 2014 home game against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 13 and will play at EMU on Sept. 5, 2015.
The Virginian Pilot also reports that ODU will play at Vanderbilt on Nov. 1, 2014.
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