Looking to the Future: Non-Conference Games

Why the future decade should excite Niner Nation!

While there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Fall 2020 season, let’s look to the future to see the non-conference teams Charlotte will be playing. These are the games, if victorious, bring attention to the program and to players who show out that day and prove their talent and abilities along with big money payouts or high selling venues to bring the best match-ups of the season. 

These games can hold a lot of recruiting power for programs like Charlotte because these are the stages that can be most desired for players who want to show out against the big top 25 teams and play in the biggest stadiums. Niner fans will also take any chance to travel to these kinds of games too because the experience of your teams playing on the big stages are the memories college fans dream about and remember for a lifetime. We all knew we were going to lose against Clemson, but that was an amazing experience for fans to travel and experience together at Death Valley, memories like these drive the football experience. 

Looking ahead, Charlotte has FIVE SEC match-ups (including Tennessee in 2020) with a home and home with Ole Miss. This will be the first home visit from an SEC team to Charlotte. These games provide A LOT of money to play because these teams see them as “easy wins” but the payout is amazing; how else did we pay for the retro Norm helmets a few weeks after Clemson? Away games against Georgia (‘25), Florida (‘23)(thank you Mike Hill), and South Carolina (‘22), will be bringing the 49ers on the road for big stage games and big paydays. 

Strangely enough, there are not a lot of ACC match-ups in the future for Charlotte, but Duke is supposed to be played Fall 2020 in Durham, but the Blue Devils do plan to come to the Queen City in Fall 2021. The games a lot of people will be looking forward to is the home and home games against Chapel Hill (2024 and 2025). As our branding has taken us away from the “UNC” title, this will be a great chance to show our identity across the state. 

Thank god our Big 10 games were not scheduled for this season! Next year, Charlotte will be playing away at Illinois. This is a game I am really looking forward to because at the rate we are growing and improving our recruiting classes, the 49ers should have a really good team to play against Illinois. Plus the tv time this game will get, we want to see Charlotte show out and put on a show. 2022 and 2023 will see another Big 10 matchup with Maryland (home and home), with potential national broadcasting. 

The big Group of Five matchups to look forward to are the four games series against Georgie State and Appalachian State. The Georgia State series is supposed to kick-off in 2020(still scheduled to happen) and run till 2024, but this might be cut down to three games due to the virus. The 49ers are currently 1-1 against GSU and this series could develop into a cross-conference rivalry in the future. The big match-up will definitely be the series against the Mountaineers. Charlotte came close in Boone last season and will be out for blood the next time we play in Charlotte.

Charlotte will finally get to play East Carolina in a home and home in 2024 and 2025. This has been a game many fans have asked for and this could be a small glimpse of AAC hopes Charlotte has been looking towards. 

Remaining games include Norfolk State (canceled due to COVID-19), Gardener Webb, and William and Mary. These should be easy wins for Charlotte, but I can’t predict the future, I just give a good guess at it. 

With the fast growth of the program, Charlotte has a fantastic schedule to look ahead. This scheduling definitely deserves an A+ because of the travel ability of these games, the money and, home exposure it will bring. The in-state component has been satisfied too and rumor has it a Charlotte vs. NC State match-up could be in the works. Players will be chomping at the bit to prove our team on these big stages and show the sports world what Charlotte football is all about. 

As for future players and coaching, I expect Charlotte to continue to bring in exceptional players bring in more 3-star recruits with a handful more 4-stars. Who knows how much longer Coach Healy and his staff will stay, but with strength in the conference and the judgment of Mike Hill, I am not too worried about finding new coaches in the future for this program, but let's not think about that right now. 

One day, COVID 19 will be a distant memory and all we will have to worry about is how am I gonna get a ticket to see Charlotte play Georgia, or will my season ticket price go up cause the Tar Heels are coming? There is a bright future and exciting schedule coming for the 49ers, and we have some people to prove wrong and teams to upset in the coming decade. 

Future Schedule reference:

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/charlotte/

#RollNiners