Bridgewater, NJ — The Northeast Conference (NEC) revealed its 2023 football schedule on Monday. The slate will feature eight teams contesting a single round-robin schedule.

Central Connecticut, Duquesne, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner will all vie for an automatic bid to the 2023 Division I FCS Playoffs, which will begin on Nov. 25.

For the second straight year, the first NEC contest of the season will take place in the New Britain, CT when Stonehill makes its first trip as a league member to Arute Field to face Central Connecticut on Sept. 9.

With league games scattered throughout the rest of the month of September and the beginning of October, the conference slate goes into full swing in mid October. Starting on Oct. 21, there are at least three scheduled NEC contests every week though the regular season’s conclusion on Nov 18.   

Saint Francis U surged through the seven-game NEC slate with an unscathed record to become the ninth team in NEC history — and the first in program lore — to post a perfect record in conference play. Clinching the league’s automatic bid to the FCA Playoffs to bring the NEC title to Loretto for the second time ever, the Red Flash fell to Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion and then 23rd ranked Delaware in the NCAA FCS First Round. 

LIU made a big push at the end of the season to catapault to a third-place finish in the NEC standings. The Sharks closed out the 2022 slate with four straight wins, defeating Duquense, Central Connecticut, Stonehill and Sacred Heart to finish with a 4-7 mark. LIU produced its first-ever NEC major award winner in Eric O'Neill, who was pegged the league's Defensive Rookie of the Year. In addition, redshirt freshman Luca Stanzani became the first quarterback in program history to garner All-NEC distinction (second team).

2023 NEC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

• A total of 27 NEC games will be played, starting on Saturday, Sept. 9 and culminating on Saturday, Nov. 18
• Each of the eight teams that comprise the league will face each other one time throughout the season, providing seven conference games per squad
• Amidst its second year as an NEC member, Stonehill will visit Central Connecticut on Saturday, Sept. 9 to kick off the league slate
• Starting on Saturday, Sept. 10, there will be at least one conference contest each Saturday
• Two weeks of the season consist of a full slate of NEC action: Oct. 21 and Oct. 28
• Commonwealth State opponents Stonehill and Merrimack, a pair of Commonwealth State opponents, will clash in North Andover on Oct. 7 (Week 6)
• Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart, a pair of Nutmeg State rivals, are slated to battle in Fairfield on Nov. 4 (Week 10).
• The non-conference schedule features seven games against FBS opponents
• Duquesne (West Virginia, Coastal Carolina), LIU (Ohio, Baylor) and Wagner (Navy, Rutgers) each have two FBC opponents on its non-conference slate
• CCSU (Kent State), Sacred Heart (UConn), Saint Francis U (Western Michigan) will also face FBS opponents in 2023
• Teams from the NEC will also take on four different opponents that finished in the FCS Top-25 at the conclusion of the 2022 slate
• Duquesne and Saint Francis U each have Delaware on the schedule, Merrimack has a date with Holy Cross and Stonehill is set to take on New Hampshire and Fordham