NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University and the University of Virginia have agreed to a three-year contract in football that will see the two squads face off in Charlottesville in 2018, ODU Athletic Director Dr. Wood Selig announced on Monday. The Monarchs will host the Cavaliers in 2020 and the series returns to UVA in 2022.
“I think this is a win–win series for both ODU and Virginia. It will be a great series for fans of ODU and UVA and for college football fans in general throughout the Commonwealth. This series fits perfectly with our other attractive home and home ACC scheduling such as Virginia Tech, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest and AAC member East Carolina,” Selig said. “I think this series continues to validate our move to FBS and C-USA and really sets up our future non-conference schedule very nicely. We look forward to competing against Virginia.”
UVA is led by Bronco Mendenhall, who was hired by the Cavaliers in December after going 99-43 in 11 years as the head coach of BYU. Mendenhall led the Cougars to a bowl game in each year as a head coach, one of just 11 FBS teams to reach a bowl game in that span. The Cougars had gone 14-21 the previous three years before he took over.
“We are excited to announce this series with Virginia. Both schools have been working together for some time to find mutual dates. There has been tremendous interest from so many people in Virginia and especially in Hampton Roads about this series,” ODU Head Coach Bobby Wilder said. “We now have a combined 10 games scheduled with Virginia and Virginia Tech over the course of the next 10 years. This is exactly what we wanted to give our fans and the Hampton Roads region when we made the move to C-USA.”
The agreement with Virginia marks the fifth ACC school that has agreed to play Old Dominion in Norfolk. The Monarchs hosted NC State last season, will host North Carolina in 2017 and have future dates set to host Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
The series starts at UVA on Nov. 17, 2018 with the second game at Old Dominion on Nov. 21, 2020. The final game of the series will be played in Charlottesville on Sept. 17, 2022.
The Monarchs return 17 starters from last season, including running back Ray Lawry and linebacker TJ Ricks. Ricks and Lawry led Conference USA in rushing and tackles, respectively.
Old Dominion opens the 2016 season at home on Sept. 3 against Hampton.