AUS releases 2016 Football Schedule

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport released the 2016 football schedule today for the upcoming fall season.

Each of the conference's four teams will once again play eight regular season games, with the regular season kicking off with two Saturday afternoon games in Week 1.

In a rematch of the 2015 Subway AUS Loney Bowl, the reigning AUS champion StFX X-Men will visit the Mount Allison Mounties in their home opener, Saturday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. in Sackville, N.B.

In the concurrent opening-day matchup, the Acadia Axemen will play host to the Saint Mary's Huskies in Wolfville, N.S.

Interlock play will once again take place in Week 3 this season. All four AUS teams will see action versus the RSEQ conference on Saturday, Sept. 24. The Mounties will host the Laval Rouge et Or in Sackville, N.B., while the Axemen host the Montreal Carabins in Wolfville, N.S., both at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, the Huskies will travel to Lennoxville, Que. to face the Bishop's Gaiters, and the X-Men will be hosted by the Concordia Stingers in Montreal, Que.

StFX and Mount Allison will hold their homecomings Saturday, Oct. 1. The X-Men will host Saint Mary's, while the Mounties host Acadia, both in 2 p.m. games. The Huskies will then host the X-Men Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. in their own homecoming game.

Acadia's homecoming game will also be held Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. They will host the Mount Allison Mounties.

Regular season play will wrap up with two games on Saturday, Oct. 29. Saint Mary's will host Acadia at 2 p.m., while StFX hosts Mount Allison at 3 p.m. 

AUS playoffs are set to begin the following weekend when the second-seeded team hosts the third-seeded team Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. in the playoff semifinal.
The winner will advance to the 2016 Subway AUS Loney Bowl which will be played Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. and hosted by the top-seeded team.

"We're very excited about the upcoming season," said AUS executive director and football chair Phil Currie. "We welcome new faces to two of our four programs. Scott Brady has taken over as head coach of the Mount Allison Mounts and James Colzie III was recently announced as the new leader of the Saint Mary's Huskies program. We look forward to working with them and to watching our hard-working and talented student-athletes take to the field for another great season of football."

The AUS champion will then move on to compete in the 2016 CIS Mitchell Bowl, Saturday, Nov. 19, which will be hosted by the Canada West conference champion. The time of that game has yet to be determined. 

The Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl winners will advance to play each other in the 52nd Vanier Cup on Saturday, Nov. 26. The national final will be hosted at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont. The time of the game has yet to be set.

The complete 2016 Atlantic University Sport football schedule is now available here and is listed below.

All AUS regular season and playoff football games will be broadcast live on Bell Aliant's TV1 on channels 1 and 401. They will also be available via webcast at AUStv.ca.
The remainder of the 2016 AUS fall sports schedules, including women's rugby, men's and women's soccer and men's and women's cross country, will be announced later today.

Exhibition:
Friday, Sept. 2 – Mount Allison at StFX, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 3 – Acadia at Saint Mary's, 2 p.m.

Week 1:
Saturday, Sept. 10 – StFX at Mount Allison, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 10 – Saint Mary's at Acadia, 2 p.m.

Week 2:
Friday, Sept. 16 – Mount Allison at Saint Mary's, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 17 – Acadia at StFX, 2 p.m.

Week 3:
Saturday, Sept. 24 – Laval at Mount Allison, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24 – Montreal at Acadia, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24 – Saint Mary's at Bishop's, time TBD
Saturday, Sept. 24 – StFX at Concordia, time TBD

Week 4:
Saturday, Oct. 1 – Acadia at Mount Allison, 2 p.m. (Homecoming)
Saturday, Oct. 1 – Saint Mary's at StFX, 2 p.m. (Homecoming)

Week 5 (Thanksgiving Weekend):
Friday, Oct. 7 – Mount Allison at Saint Mary's, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7 – Acadia at StFX, 7 p.m.

Week 6:
Saturday, Oct. 15 – StFX at Saint Mary's, 2 p.m. (Homecoming)
Saturday, Oct. 15 – Mount Allison at Acadia, 2 p.m. (Homecoming)

Week 7:
Saturday, Oct. 22 – Saint Mary's at Mount Allison, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 22 – StFX at Acadia, 2 p.m.

Week 8: 
Saturday, Oct. 29 – Acadia at Saint Mary's, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 29 – Mount Allison at StFX, 3 p.m.

Week 9:
AUS Semifinal
Saturday, Nov. 5 - Third Place at Second Place, 2 p.m.

Week 10:
AUS Championship (Subway Loney Bowl)
Saturday, Nov. 12 - Semifinal Winner at First Place, 2 p.m.

Week 11:
Mitchell Bowl (Location TBA)
Saturday, Nov. 19 – AUS Champion at Canada West Champion, TBA

Week 13:
Vanier Cup (Tim Hortons Field – Hamilton, Ont.)
Saturday, Nov. 26 - Mitchell Bowl Winner vs. Uteck Bowl Winner, TBA