The North Alabama Lions have added the Northeastern State RiverHawks to their 2025 football schedule, according to the official website of NSU.
North Alabama will host Northeastern State at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
Northeastern State, located in Tahlequah, Okla., competes in Division II and will play football as an Independent at least through the 2026 season. The RiverHawks were a member of the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), but withdrew from the league last fall in an attempt to rebuild their program, which has recorded just 16 victories in 11 seasons.
With the addition of Northeastern State, North Alabama has tentatively completed its non-conference schedule in 2025. The Lions are slated to open the season on the road against the WKU Hilltoppers on Aug. 30.
Other non-conference contests for North Alabama in 2025 include the Southeast Missouri RedHawks at home on Sept. 6 and the Illinois State Redbirds on the road on Sept. 27. In addition to those four non-league opponents, the Lions will play eight United Athletic Conference (UAC) foes.
North Alabama is scheduled to open the 2024 season in the FCS Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 24 against Southeast Missouri. The game will be played at the historic Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
Northeastern St.? From which state?
Tahlequah, Okla.
Oklahoma has no FCS team. Several DII teams of which NE State is one. With so many schools showing a willingness to move up levels, is it just a thought that these schools are seeking more money to help the overall school budget. Many small schools are looking for legal revenue any way they can.
BTW, I have attended a game at Northeastern St back in the mid 2000’s when they played Arkansas Tech. My aunt attended there when it was a women’s college mainly for teachers. Yeah, decades and decades and decades ago.