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FIU Announces 2018 Football Schedule: Rivalry With Miami Renewed

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The FIU Panthers have announced their full football schedule for the 2018 season.

Butch Davis' Panthers, who finished 2017 at second place in Conference USA with an 8-5 record, will play five bowl teams this year.

Plus, they'll renew their South Florida rivalry with the Miami Hurricanes. The Panthers and Canes last met in 2007, a year after their infamous brawl at the Orange Bowl.

Here's the full schedule with notes, from FIU Sports Communications:

Conference USA released the 2018 football schedules for its member institutions today. FIU's 2018 slate will feature five bowl teams from the 2017 season, a home opener against Big Ten member Indiana and the renewal of the series with Miami (Fla.) – the defending Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division winner.

"This year's schedule again will be a great test for our program," FIU head coach Butch Davis said. "The front end of the schedule will be extremely challenging especially with big games against Indiana and Miami to get us ready for conference. Having the bye week midway through the year will give us a chance to regroup at the right time and gear up for the second half of the season, especially with three of our last five C-USA games on the road. We're going to have to have a good offseason to get us ready."

FIU faces 2017 bowl teams in Boca Raton Bowl and 2017 C-USA champion Florida Atlantic, Gildan New Mexico Bowl champion Marshall, Raycom Camellia Bowl champion Middle Tennessee, AutoNation Cure Bowl participant WKU and Orange Bowl participant Miami.

In 2018, FIU will host Indiana (Sept. 1), UMass (Sept. 15), Arkansas Pine Bluff (Sept. 29), Middle Tennessee (Oct. 13), Rice (Oct. 20), Florida Atlantic (Nov. 3) and Marshall (Nov. 24).

The Panthers will travel for games at Old Dominion (Sept. 8), Miami (Sept. 22), WKU (Oct. 27), UTSA (Nov. 10) and Charlotte (Nov. 17).

FIU opens the season hosting Big Ten member Indiana for the second time in three seasons. The C-USA opener will be on the road the following week at Old Dominion on Sept. 8.

The Panthers renew a series with the Miami Hurricanes on Sept. 22. The last time the teams met was in 2007 at the Orange Bowl. FIU will have a bye week on Oct. 6, before getting into the bulk of C-USA play.

Shula Bowl XVII against FAU will be played on Nov. 3 at Riccardo Silva Stadium.

Conference USA's 14-team alignment for the 2018 season again features each team playing eight conference games, along with four non-league contests.  A total of 57 games are featured over 14 regular season playing weeks.

It is important to note that all games are subject to date changes and some dates are expected to move in the coming weeks in order accommodate national television.

A schedule of televised games will be released at a later date.  Conference USA's 14th annual Championship Game, pitting the champions of the East and West Divisions, is scheduled for Saturday, December 1.

FIU Season tickets start as low as $50. For more FIU football ticket information, contact the University Credit Union Box Office at 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).

 2018 FIU Football Schedule

Sept. 1                  INDIANA

Sept. 8                   at Old Dominion*

Sept. 15                UMASS

Sept. 22                 at Miami (Fla.)

Sept. 29                ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF

Oct. 6                     Bye

Oct. 13                  MIDDLE TENNESSEE*

Oct. 20                  RICE*

Oct. 27                  at WKU*

Nov. 3                   FLORIDA ATLANTIC*

Nov. 10                  at UTSA*

Nov. 17                  at Charlotte*

Nov. 24                 MARSHALL*

* denotes Conference USA Games

 Home games at Riccardo Silva Stadium are capitalized and bolded.

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