Louisiana Tech announces 2018 football schedule

RUSTON, La. – On Tuesday, Conference USA officials announced the league’s 2018 football schedule, which officially completes Louisiana Tech’s 12-game slate for next fall.

The 14-team alignment for the 2018 season will again feature each team playing eight conference games, along with four non-league contests. The 2017 alignment will feature seven teams in the East Division and seven teams in the West Division.

Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and WKU comprise the East Division, while Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP and UTSA make up the West Division.

Each school will play every team in its division once for six games, while playing two cross-over opponents from the opposite division. Each team will reverse the location of its 2017 opponents, both inter-division opponents and intra-division foes. The conference is in the second year of a rotation between cross-division opponents that will rotate every two years until 2024, when each school has played every opponent in the opposite division once home and away.

Louisiana Tech begins the season on the road as the Bulldogs make a return trip to Mobile, Alabama, on Sept. 1 to take on South Alabama, a team LA Tech defeated, 34-16, in Ruston during the 2017 season.

The Bulldogs will open their 2018 home slate against Southern for the second time in the last three seasons as the Jaguars travel to Ruston on Sept. 8 to take on Louisiana Tech at Joe Aillet Stadium. LA Tech also opened the 2015 campaign by hosting Southern and defeated the Jaguars, 62-15, in that contest.

Following the opening two weeks of the 2018 football season, Louisiana Tech will have a bye the weekend of Sept. 15 before traveling to the southern portion of the state to face LSU on Sept. 22 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

For the fifth straight season, Louisiana Tech will open Conference USA play on the road as the Bulldogs will travel to Denton, Texas, on Sept. 29 to take on West Division foe North Texas in the fifth week of the season. LA Tech hosted the Mean Green in 2017 in a game North Texas edged the Bulldogs by one point.

Louisiana Tech will open the month of October by taking on UAB for the second year in a row with the Bulldogs playing hosts to the Blazers on Oct. 6 at Joe Aillet Stadium.

The Bulldogs will take on a pair of Texas schools in mid-October as LA Tech is set to travel to San Antonio to take on UTSA on Oct. 13 before hosting UTEP in Ruston on Oct. 20. Louisiana Tech will close out the second month of the season on Oct. 27 when the Bulldogs travel to Boca Raton, Florida, to compete in inter-division play against the defending 2017 C-USA Champions in Florida Atlantic.

LA Tech will continue road play the next week by stepping out of conference play to take on its second SEC opponent of the season in Mississippi State on Nov. 3 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. The game between the Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State will mark the 14th meeting all-time between the two teams and the third straight season the two schools will meet on the gridiron.

The Bulldogs will play their fourth home game of the season on Nov. 10 as LA Tech is set to host Rice in West Division play at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston. Louisiana Tech will conclude its road slate on Nov. 17 as the Bulldogs make the trip to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to face off against Southern Miss in league action.

For the second straight season, Louisiana Tech will wrap up the regular season at home as the Bulldogs will battle its second East Division opponent of the season when WKU travels to Ruston for a Nov. 24 contest.

It is important to note that all games are subject to date changes and some dates are expected to move in the coming weeks in order accommodate national television.

A schedule of televised games will be released at a later date.

Conference USA’s 14th annual Championship Game, pitting the champions of the East and West Divisions, is scheduled for Saturday, December 1.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please follow Louisiana Tech on social media at @LATechFB (Twitter), /LATechFootball (Facebook) and @LATechFB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.

2018 LOUISIANA TECH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 1 at South Alabama
Sept. 8 SOUTHERN
Sept. 15 BYE
Sept. 22 at LSU
Sept. 29 at North Texas*
Oct. 6 UAB*
Oct. 13 at UTSA*
Oct. 20 UTEP*
Oct. 27 at Florida Atlantic*
Nov. 3 at Mississippi State
Nov. 10 RICE*
Nov. 17 at Southern Miss*
Nov. 24 WKU*