Football Releases 2023 Schedule

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The 2023 Savannah State football schedule is set.

Savannah State football, under second-year head coach Aaron Kelton, will open the season on the road for the first two weeks. They will play a total of four games in Theodore A. Wright Stadium this season and six on the road.

The 10-game schedule begins with two non-conference games before the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) schedule opens in mid-September.

"Our sincere appreciation to the conference and Commissioner Holloman for expediting the release of the conference football schedule, which allowed our SSU team to work quickly to confirm additional games to complete the schedule," Savannah State President Kimberly Ballard-Washington said.

"Releasing our schedule early in the year allows SSU students, alumni, families, and the Savannah community to make advanced plans to come out and support our team at Theodore A. Wright Stadium or at other venues around the southeast. We look forward to seeing our great fan base at this year's games."

Savannah State opens the season on the road at Southeastern University for a non-conference game in Lakeland, Florida on Sept. 2. The Tigers head back to Florida on Sept. 9 to play an old rival, Bethune-Cookman University, in the second non-conference game of the season.

Bethune-Cookman, a NCAA Division I, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) program, shares a long history with Savannah State. The programs have met 50 times on the gridiron dating back to 1925. The schools were regional rivals when both were members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) from 2010-2019.

"We're looking forward to our fourth full year of SIAC football competition," Director of Athletics Opio Mashariki said. "We wanted to strengthen our non-conference schedule and the games against two great programs will help prepare us for this year's conference schedule."

The Tigers open their SIAC schedule and home schedule on Sept. 16 with Faculty/Staff Appreciation/International Night against Clark Atlanta. They head back on the road the following week to play Albany State on Sept. 23 in Albany, Ga.

Savannah State will host Edward Waters Sept. 30 on Savannah Day in Theodore A. Wright Stadium. Kick-off is set for 6 p.m.

The Tigers head back on the road for two weeks, facing Fort Valley State on Oct. 7 in Fort Valley, Georgia and Central State Oct. 14 in Wilberforce, Ohio.

They return to Theodore A. Wright Stadium on Oct. 21 for the 2023 Homecoming game against Tuskegee University. Kick-off for that game will be 3 p.m.

In the penultimate game of the season, the Tigers will host the reigning SIAC Champions, Benedict College on Oct. 28 in Theodore A. Wright with a 3 p.m. kick-off. Savannah State closes the regular season in Jackson, Tennessee against Lane College on Nov. 4.

In December of last year, the SIAC moved to a 4-4-2 football scheduling model, dissolving the East and West Divisions for the sport. The move came after the conference added two new members, Edward Waters and Allen.

Each school will play an eight-game conference schedule each year with four primary opponents and rotate through the other eight teams twice during a four-year period.

"The new SIAC football scheduling model will help to provide significant advantages for our schools and league," SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman said in the press release. "The most important advantage is the benefit we are giving to our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play every school both home and away over a four-year period while decreasing the amount of time spent on the road."

The regular season will conclude with the SIAC Football Championship Game presented by Cricket, that will pit the top two teams against each other based on winning percentage in conference play.

Savannah State's primary four rivals will be Albany State, Benedict, Edward Waters and Fort Valley State—teams the Tigers have been playing for over 80 years.

Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2023 season will go on sale this spring.

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