MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The defending Historic Black College and University (HBCU) national champion North Carolina A&T Aggies and the four-time defending Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) champion Jacksonville State Gamecocks will square off in the 2018 Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the historic Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. The game will be televised on ESPN with kickoff time to be set at a later date.
Last year’s Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff Champions, the Jacksonville State University (JSU) Gamecocks, haven’t lost an Ohio Valley Conference game since 2013. In 2017, the Gamecocks posted a 10-2 overall record and adavnced to the FCS playoffs. JSU has won four straight OVC football championships, going 32-0 in conference play during that span. Since 2003, JSU has won seven OVC football championships.
“Jacksonville State is thrilled to open the season in the Guardian FCS Kickoff again in 2018,” Jacksonville State University director of athletics Greg Seitz said. “After playing in the inaugural game last year, we feel it is one of the premier events in all of FCS football and is a great stage for us to showcase our program and FCS football to a national audience. We had a great experience in Montgomery in 2017 and we are excited to be able to give our fans the opportunity to see us play in a setting that is close to Jacksonville.”
The North Carolina A&T Aggies finished the 2017 season with a perfect 12-0 record and won their second Celebration Bowl in three years, defeating Grambling State 21-14. The Aggies have won six HBCU National Championships, including 1951, 1968, 1990, 1999, 2015 and 2017.
“We are pleased to be playing in the FCS Kickoff,” Earl Hilton, North Carolina A&T director of athletics said. “Participating in the game is an indication of how prominent North Carolina A&T State football has become over the past few years. The Aggies are playing in this showcase event because we are one of the best teams on the Division I-FCS level and that is a testament to how hard our players, coaches and administrators are working. I want to thank the organizers for choosing to put our great university, North Carolina A&T State, on this enormous stage. A&T looks forward to playing Jacksonville State, a program that has exemplified what it means to be a nationally-ranked top-10 team on a consistent basis.”
For up-to-the-minute information, visit guardianfcskickoff.com or follow on Twitter and Facebook.
The Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff is one of 31 events owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.
ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of 31 collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 14 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 300-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.
Collegiate Football
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl (Houston); AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (Florida); Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Camping World Kickoff (Orlando, Fla.); Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); DXL Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff (Montgomery, Ala.); Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Baton Rouge, La.); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); The Home Depot College Football Awards Presented by Gildan (Atlanta) and Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth)
Collegiate Basketball
AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Armed Forces Classic (Ramstein Air Base, Germany); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy’s (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men’s Classic presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women’s Classic presented by Corona (Hartford, Conn.); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); PK80 presented by State Farm (Portland, Ore.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off; State Farm Champions Classic (Chicago) and Wooden Legacy (Fullerton, Calif.)
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ESPN Media Contact: Anna Negron at 860-766-2233 or [email protected]; @ItsAnnaNegron
