Michigan cancels UCLA series, adds games with Hawaii and East Carolina

By Kevin Kelley -

The Michigan Wolverines have canceled a future football series with UCLA and added home contests against Hawaii and East Carolina, the school announced on Friday.

Michigan and UCLA were scheduled to play a home-and-home football series with contests slated for Sept. 10, 2022 in Ann Arbor and Sept. 2, 2023 in Los Angeles. Michigan informed UCLA that it was terminating the series “…in order to balance the schedule with a seven-game home slate in both seasons.”

In place of the canceled UCLA series, Michigan has scheduled home contests against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the East Carolina Pirates.

Michigan will host Hawaii at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 10, 2022. The game will mark the fourth meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.

The Wolverines have one other non-conference contest scheduled for the 2022 season — a season-opening contest at home against the Colorado State Rams on Sept. 3.

The East Carolina Pirates will travel to take on the Michigan Wolverines on Sept. 2, 2023. The game, which will net East Carolina a $1.8 million guarantee, will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools in football.

East Carolina is the second scheduled non-conference opponent for Michigan in 2023. The Wolverines are also slated to host the Bowling Green Falcons on Sept. 16.

The Pirates were previously scheduled to play at Virginia Tech in 2022 as part of a four-game series, but the entire series was recently scrapped.

We are excited to add a school of Michigan’s caliber to our schedule,” East Carolina Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert said. “Coach Houston and his staff are committed to facing high-quality non-conference opponents as we continue to rejuvenate our football program and showcase our brand across the country.

“This is a great opportunity to take our program to Ann Arbor and play in one of the country’s best college football atmospheres. We want to find the delicate balance between playing guarantee games while also providing a competitive home schedule for our fans. We will continue to evaluate our future football schedules and make the necessary adjustments as we move forward.”

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Comments (2)

I wonder how many schools have almost literally no chance of playing one another because of every P5 school’s apparent need to have 7 home games per year. It’s frustrating for fans.