SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Dec. 18, 2025) – The Southern Conference announced its football league schedule for the upcoming 2026 season on Thursday afternoon.
 
ETSU will begin its league slate with a pair of rivalry games at home as it will host Western Carolina on September 26 before welcoming Chattanooga to Johnson City on October 3. The Bucs will then head out on the road to face the two military schools in The Citadel (October 10) and VMI (October 24) to get to the halfway point of the conference schedule.
 
The Buccaneers will begin the second half of their league schedule play hosting league newcomer Tennessee Tech on Halloween and then will wrap up their home schedule a week later against Samford on November 7. The final two SoCon games for ETSU will be on the road. A trip to Wofford on November 14 will lead into a game at Mercer on November 21 to close out the regular season.
 
With the addition of Tennessee Tech to the conference, the SoCon is up to 10 teams in football. Even with this addition, the SoCon will remain at eight league games for 2026. ETSU will not play Furman next fall.
 
The rest of the 2026 schedule for the Bucs will be released at a later date. A list of ETSU's SoCon games in 2026 can be found below.
 
Sept. 26 – vs. Western Carolina
Oct. 3 – vs. Chattanooga
Oct. 10 – at The Citadel
Oct. 24 – at VMI
Oct. 31 – vs. Tennessee Tech
Nov. 7 – vs. Samford
Nov. 14 – at Wofford
Nov. 21 – at Mercer
 
For more information on Buccaneer football, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the football tab.