Alcorn State will play two Football Bowl Subdivision teams among its 11-game 2018 schedule, the school announced Thursday.

The Braves will open the season with a road trip to Georgia Tech on Sept. 1, and will also play at New Mexico State on Nov. 3.

It’s the sixth consecutive season that Alcorn has played at least one game against an FBS opponent, and the first time since 2009 that it has had two such games. The game against Georgia Tech is a rematch of the 2015 season opener that Georgia Tech won 69-6.

Alcorn and New Mexico State last played in 2008, with New Mexico State winning 45-10.

“I’m looking forward to the upcoming season. We start out against a very tough Georgia Tech team. We’ve played them before, and we’ll be able to see where we’re at early on,” Alcorn State coach Fred McNair said in a school release.

Alcorn’s home opener is Sept. 8 against Division III Louisiana College. On Sept. 15 it will play Southwestern Athletic Conference rival Texas Southern in a game that does not count in the league standings.

The seven-game SWAC schedule begins with a two-game road trip to Mississippi Valley State and Southern University on Sept. 22 and 29, respectively.

Alcorn’s other home games are against Alabama State (Oct. 6), Grambling (Oct. 20) and Jackson State (Nov. 17). Alcorn’s bye week is Nov. 10.

The SWAC eliminated its conference championship game for next season. McNair said that will add to the challenge of navigating the rest of the schedule. Alcorn won four straight SWAC East Division titles, but is just 12-11 overall the past two seasons and 10-6 within the conference.

“The seven-game conference schedule is similar to last season, except with there not being a conference championship game this year it makes each regular season game that much more important,” McNair said. “We can’t take any weeks off and have to play every game like it’s the championship.”

2018 ALCORN STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
All times TBA
Sept. 1 — at Georgia Tech
Sept. 8 — Louisiana College
Sept. 15 — Texas Southern
Sept. 22 — *at Miss. Valley State
Sept. 29 — *at Southern
Oct. 6 — *Alabama State
Oct. 13 — *at Alabama A&M
Oct. 20 — *Grambling
Oct. 27 — *at Prairie View A&M
Nov. 3 — at New Mexico State
Nov. 10 — Open date
Nov. 17 — *Jackson State
*SWAC game