The Eastern Illinois Panthers and the McNeese Cowboys will play a home-and-home football series in 2022 and 2023, FBSchedules.com has learned.
The first game of Eastern Illinois and McNeese’s home-and-home series was revealed when the two schools released their schedules for the 2022 season earlier this year. That first game will feature Eastern Illinois traveling to face McNeese at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, La., on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022.
The series will conclude next season with the Panthers hosting the Cowboys at O’Brien Field in Charleston, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, according to a copy of the contract obtained from Eastern Illinois University via a state public records request.
Eastern Illinois and McNeese have only met twice on the gridiron. The Cowboys defeated the Panthers in both contests, winning 15-7 in 1990 in Charleston and 49-7 in 1993 in Lake Charles.
Eastern Illinois has been a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) since the 1996 season, while McNeese has played in the Southland Conference since 1972.
Eastern Illinois is scheduled to open the 2022 season on Thursday, Sept. 1 on the road against the Northern Illinois Huskies of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). McNeese opens their fall 2022 slate two days later on Saturday, Sept. 3 on the road against the Montana State Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference.
Football Schedules
amazing how schools could find each other for a late add in just before the season begins & sure the last couple of years it was like that but this is a little bit different
This was set up as part of the OVC-Southland alliance.