Tigers Football Announces 2017 Schedule

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Ok, Tiger Nation, countdown clocks for the opening of the University of Memphis 2017 football season can begin.

Set the clocks for 203 days and hit the start button now!

Memphis' 2017 campaign kicks off with Thursday Night Football at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Aug. 31 against Louisiana-Monroe. The season opener is one of seven home contests for head coach Mike Norvell's Tigers this fall.

Deposits for new 2017 season tickets for the Tigers' seven-game home schedule are on sale now, and deposits to purchase those tickets can be made online at gotigersgotix.com or by calling the Memphis Athletics Ticket Office at 901-678-2331. If making season tickets deposits online, follow the football links on the gotigersgotix.com page.

Overall schedule highlights include:

Seven home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium for a second-straight season; first time Memphis played seven home games in consecutive seasons since 2007 and 2008
As of this release, four games are set for television: Oct. 6 Connecticut, Oct. 19 Houston on ESPN; Oct. 27 Tulane on CBS Sports Network; Nov. 3 Tulsa one of the ESPN Networks (ESPN/ESPN2)
Front and back-loaded home schedule, with Memphis playing three of its first four games (Aug. 30 vs. Louisiana-Monroe/Sept. 16 vs. UCLA/Sept. 23 vs. Southern Illinois) and the campaign's final two games (Nov. 18 vs. SMU/Nov. 25 vs. East Carolina) at the Liberty Bowl
Fourth-straight season Memphis opens and closes a campaign with home games (Aug. 30 vs. Louisiana-Monroe/Nov. 25 vs. East Carolina)
First August start date since 2014 when Memphis opened that season against Austin Peay Aug. 30; overall, seventh time in program history the Tigers opens a campaign in August (3-3 all-time record in games played in August)
Bye/open date comes in the 11^th week of the season before the Tigers' final two home games; in 2016, Memphis' bye/open date came in the second week
Season opener on Thursday of the Labor Day weekend for the first time since 2011 (Sept. 1, 2011, vs. Mississippi State)
As for the long Labor Day holiday, Memphis has played on each day – with the exception of Friday – of college football's opening weekend since 2000 (including 2017); Tigers have played two Thursdays (2011; 2017), 12 Saturdays (2000; 2002-04; 2007-08; 2010; 2012-16), two Sundays (2006; 2009) and two Labor Day Mondays (2001; 2005)
Season opener on a Thursday is the first of a school-record five non-Saturday games in a season; other non-Saturday games are Oct. 6 at Connecticut (Friday), Oct. 19 at Houston (Thursday), Oct. 27 vs. Tulane (Friday) and Nov. 3 at Tulsa (Friday)
American Athletic Conference schedule rotation brings on Connecticut, East Carolina and UCF in place of Cincinnati, Temple and USF

Date/Day	Opponent	Date/Day	Opponent
Aug. 31/Thurs.	Louisiana-Monroe	Oct. 14/Sat.	Navy
Sept. 9/Sat.	@UCF	Oct. 19/Thurs.	@Houston (ESPN)
Sept. 16/Sat.	UCLA	Oct. 27/Fri.	Tulane (CBSSN)
Sept. 23/Sat.	Southern Illinois	Nov. 3/Fri.	@Tulsa (ESPN/ESPN2)
Sept. 30/Sat.	@Georgia State	Nov. 18/Sat.	SMU
Oct. 6/Fri.	@Connecticut (ESPN)	Nov. 25/Sat.	East Carolina

The following is a highlight of each Memphis' opponent:

Aug. 31: Louisiana-Monroe's first trip to Memphis since 2000 and the Warhawks' first visit as a member of the Sun Belt Conference; Louisiana-Monroe's last trip to the Liberty Bowl was as a FBS independent
Sept. 9: Tigers' first meeting with UCF since 2013 and their first trip to Orlando since 2011; also earliest league opener for Memphis since 2008 (vs. Rice; Sept. 6, 2008)
Sept. 16: UCLA's first trip to play Memphis in the Liberty Bowl, but not the Bruins' first trip to play in the Bluff City; UCLA played Alabama in the 1976 Liberty Bowl
Sept. 23: Facing Southern Illinois for the first time in program history; fifth time in the last six seasons Memphis has a first-time foe on its schedule
Sept. 30: Tigers' first trip to play in the city of Atlanta since 1981 when Memphis posted a 28-15 win at Georgia Tech
Oct. 6: Memphis' second trip to Connecticut in program history; last played at the Huskies' home in 2013
Oct. 14: Tigers welcome Navy, the American Athletic Conference West Division champion, to the Liberty Bowl; Memphis defeated the 2015 AAC West champion, Houston, at the Liberty Bowl in 2016
Oct. 19: Memphis plays at Houston on a short week (four days between games); since 2000, Memphis has a 5-2 record in "short-week" games, including wins the last two seasons over Cincinnati (2015) and Temple (2016)
Oct. 27: Tigers try to extend win streak in the series with the Green Wave to 11-straight
Nov. 3: Head coach Mike Norvell's first trip to Tulsa, where he started his FBS coaching career; served as assistant for the Golden Hurricane from 2007-10
Nov. 11: BYE/OPEN date; Memphis' latest bye/open since 2002 when the Tigers' bye/open date was Nov. 16
Nov. 18: Memphis outscored SMU 162-17 in last three meetings (2014-16)
Nov. 25: East Carolina makes first trip to the Liberty Bowl since 2011; match-up is the first between the two programs as American Athletic Conference opponents (last meeting was in 2012 in Conference USA)

The Tigers posted an 8-5 overall record and 5-3 American Athletic Conference in 2016. Memphis earned a Boca Raton Bowl berth, marking the program's third-consecutive postseason invitation.

University of Memphis Athletics

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