HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team announced its 2023 football schedule in conjunction with the official release of the full Southland Conference slate by the league office Wednesday.
 
The defending Southland Conference champion Lions will open the 2023 season with a Sept. 2 contest at Mississippi State. It will be the second meeting between the two schools, as the Bulldogs defeated SLU, 34-10, in 2008. MSU finished 8-4 in the 2022 regular season and is slated to play Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl Jan. 2. SLU's trip to Starkville will be Mississippi State's first home game since the passing of head coach Mike Leach.
 
Southeastern will open the season with its first three games away from home, as it takes on another FBS opponent in South Alabama Sept. 9. The first-ever meeting between the two schools will see the Lions travel to face a Jaguar squad that finished 10-2 in the regular season and will take on Western Kentucky in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Dec. 21.
 
SLU's season-opening road swing closes with a Sept. 16 contest at Eastern Washington. Both FCS programs have been regularly among the national offensive leaders in recent seasons. SLU (Cole Kelley, 2020) and EWU (Eric Barriere, 2021) have produced the two most recent Walter Payton Award winners.
 
The Lions open their home and conference schedule Sept. 23, welcoming Houston Christian to town. Southeastern has won all seven meetings all-time versus the Huskies and the meeting will be the first since 2021.
 
SLU will close out its regular season nonconference schedule Sept. 30, hosting Tarleton State of the ASUN-WAC. The Lions and TSU will be meeting for the first time in school history.
 
Southeastern returns to the road on Oct. 7, traveling to UIW for a matchup between the last two Southland Conference champions. The all-time series is tied, 5-5, after SLU earned a walk-off 41-35 victory in Hammond in September.
 
The Lions then return back to Strawberry Stadium for an Oct. 14 visit from Lamar. Southeastern is 13-4 all-time versus the Cardinals and have won the last five meetings with LU.
 
Following the Lamar contest, SLU will face its two most frequent opponents in program history over the next two games. The Lions will travel to Natchitoches Oct. 21 to take on Northwestern State for the 68^th time. Southeastern has won the last 12 meetings with the Demons and holds a 38-29 all-time advantage.
 
After a bye, SLU returns home to host McNeese Nov. 4. The Cowboys hold a 25-24 advantage in the all-time series, though Southeastern has won the last four meetings between the in-state SLC rivals.
 
Southeastern will close out its regular season road schedule Nov. 11 at Texas A&M-Commerce. SLU will be looking to avenge its lone Southland loss of 2022 – a 31-28 defeat in Hammond in October.
 
The River Bell Classic closes out the 2022 regular season, as Southeastern hosts Nicholls Nov. 16. The Lions hold a 17-16 advantage in the series after their 40-17 SLC championship-clinching win in the 2022 regular season finale.
 
Southeastern will hold spring practice Feb. 28 - April 1.  
 
2023 Southeastern Football Schedule
Sept. 2 | at Mississippi State | Starkville, Miss.
Sept. 9 | at South Alabama | Mobile, Ala.
Sept. 16 | at Eastern Washington | Cheney, Wash.
Sept. 23 | HCU* | Hammond
Sept. 30 | Tarleton State | Hammond
Oct. 7 | at UIW* | San Antonio, Texas
Oct. 14 | Lamar* | Hammond
Oct. 21 | at Northwestern State* | Natchitoches
Nov. 4 | McNeese* | Hammond
Nov. 11 | at Texas A&M-Commerce* | Commerce, Texas
Nov. 16 | Nicholls* | Hammond
 
Home games in bold | * - Southland Conference game
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2022-23 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.