CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois football schedule features six home games in 2024, including a Family Weekend game with Southeast Missouri State (Sept. 21) and a Homecoming matchup with perennial powerhouse North Dakota State (Oct. 12).
The Salukis typically play an 11-game schedule with five home dates, but Football Championship Subdivision schools can play up to 12 games in 2024, allowing SIU to add an extra home game. The last time SIU played six home games was in the 2016 season.
Southern opens the season with a Big 12 Conference road game at BYU (Aug. 31). The Salukis are one of only two FCS programs with wins over FBS opponents in both 2022 (Northwestern) and 2023 (Northern Illinois).
A challenging non-conference schedule also includes a trip to Austin Peay (Sept. 7), the defending champion of the United Athletic Conference, followed by the home opener versus Incarnate Word (Sept. 14) – a Southland Conference team that finished 9-2 last season.
On Sept. 21, the Salukis will renew one of the oldest rivalries in college football when they host SEMO on Family Weekend in the annual War For the Wheel. In a series that dates back to 1909, Southern will seek to retain the wheel, which it claimed in dramatic fashion last season with a 26-25 win in Cape Girardeau.
The Salukis will host critical, back-to-back conference games to open the month of October – versus Illinois State (Oct. 5) and North Dakota State (Oct. 12). The remaining home schedule includes Youngstown State (Nov. 9) and Murray State (Nov. 23), which will make its first trip to Carbondale since 2016.
The remainder of the road schedule includes trips to South Dakota (Sept. 28), Indiana State (Oct. 26), Missouri State (Nov. 2) and defending FCS champion South Dakota State (Nov. 16).
Southern has made the FCS Playoffs in three of the last four seasons, advancing to the round of 16 twice and the Elite Eight once.
The Salukis will conduct 15 Spring Ball practices, beginning on March 21 and concluding with the annual Spring Game on April 20 at noon.
Season-ticket renewals will be delivered in April. The ticket office expects a limited number of premium chairback seats will become available for new purchases. E-mail or call the ticket office at 877-SALUKIS to join the interest-list for season tickets.
