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The Virginia Football program announced a new three-game series against Old Dominion. UVA will take on ODU in Charlottesville in 2018 and 2022, and head to Norfolk in 2020.
The news was announced in a video posted on Twitter by Coach Bronco Mendenhall, an announcement that was teased all day by the @UVA_Football Twitter account as "BREAKING NEWS."
I am happy to announce a new series for our future schedules. #757 #HoosRising #Gohoos pic.twitter.com/EOL94Q7Pny
— Bronco Mendenhall (@UVACoachBronco) February 8, 2016
The Monarchs, who compete in Conference USA, have played at the FBS level for two seasons now afte restarting their football program in 2009. They finished 5-7 last season and 3-5 in C-USA under head coach Bobby Wilder. They play at Foreman Field, which holds just over 20,000 fans.
Here are the dates of the three games against ODU:
November 17, 2018. (Charlottesville)
November 21, 2020. (Norfolk)
September 17, 2022. (Charlottesville)
Out-of-conference schedules for the next 3 years are now set.
2016: vs. Richmond, vs. Central Michigan, @ Oregon, @UConn
2017: vs. W&M, vs. Indiana, vs. UConn, @ Boise State
2018: vs. Richmond, vs. Ohio, vs. ODU, @ Indiana
Fans concerned about the team's recent difficult schedules will enjoy that 2018 lineup.
Interestingly, the 2018 and 2020 games will be played in late November, presumably the week before the team's season finale in Blacksburg. A week of non-conference play before the rivalry matchup sounds good to me.