The HCU Huskies have added the Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes to their 2023 football schedule, according to HCU’s official website.
HCU will host Arkansas Baptist at Husky Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
Arkansas Baptist College is a private college located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Buffaloes are a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
HCU (Houston Christian University) was previously scheduled to host the Trinity Tigers, a Division III team, but that game has been replaced by the Arkansas Baptist contest.
In other non-conference action in 2023, HCU is scheduled to travel to take on the WKU Hilltoppers on Sept. 9 and the UT Martin Skyhawks on Sept. 16. The Huskies will also close out their non-conference slate with a home contest against the Prairie View A&M Panthers on Oct. 14.
The Southland Conference schedule for the 2023 season was announced in December. HCU will host Lamar (Sept. 30), Texas A&M-Commerce (Oct. 28), and UIW (Nov. 18) and will travel to play Southeastern (Sept. 23), Nicholls (Oct. 7), Northwestern State (Nov. 4), and McNeese (Nov. 11).
There are still 26 FCS teams that need at least 1 more non-conference game to complete their 2023 schedules, for a total of 41 openings. This does not include FBS Marshall, who is the lone FBS school that still needs a non-conference game. Marshall will likely be looking for a Week 1 FCS opponent, and there are 11 FCS schools that have openings that week.
I wonder if one of those FCS schools, perhaps a southern school like Nicholls, Stetson, or Lindenwood will schedule Trinity, now that they have an opening.
Would love to see Kennesaw State drop/reschedule their D2 opponent in week 1 to play at Marshall. KSU also needs 3 more games after that to complete the 2023 schedule. This transition year looks to be a challenge as an FCS independent.
I have a running list of FCS teams that still need non-conference games this upcoming season. There are still 41 openings left. Most schools need 1 or 2 games, but as you said, Kennesaw needs 3, and Georgetown needs 4. Then there’s the UAPB/Central Arkansas conundrum, as the date of their game is still listed as “TBA”, some SWAC games might need to be reshuffled in order for that game to take place outside of Week 0.
If no one else cancels games, I predict that Marshall with schedule either NC Central or Duquesne, and Kennesaw State will schedule Harvard (10/14), Lindenwood (11/18), and likely a PFL team for 10/21 or 10/28.