AUS announces 2013 football schedule

Source: AUS Communications

HALIFAX, N.S. - Atlantic University Sport released the 2013 football schedule today, and also announced that the Uteck Bowl, the CIS semifinal game, will now be hosted by the Loney Bowl champion.

The last Uteck Bowl hosted by Atlantic University Sport was played in Moncton in 2011. Previously, the CIS semifinal had been hosted at Huskies Stadium in Halifax for more than 30 years.

"Similar to the format used by the other three conferences, when the Uteck Bowl is scheduled to be played in our conference, the game will now be hosted by the Loney Bowl champion," said Phil Currie, executive director of Atlantic University Sport. "As outlined in our strategic plan, we are committed to providing the ultimate student-athlete experience and I believe rewarding our conference champion with the opportunity to compete for a berth in the Vanier Cup in front of their home fans will help us deliver on that goal."

The 2013 Uteck Bowl will be managed and hosted by the AUS office in conjunction with the Loney Bowl champion and in 2015 the conference winner will take over the operation of the game completely.

"The four football schools agreed to have us continue to assist with the game in this transition year," added Currie. "There are a number of key pieces to the event that we will stay involved with, including marketing and promotion, advance ticket sales and having a plan in place to increase capacity at the potential venues on short notice if required."

Each of the conference's four teams will once again play eight regular season games, with the regular season kicking off with a pair of Week 1 evening games.

On Friday, September 6, fans will get to see a rematch of the 2012 Loney Bowl as the two-time defending champion Acadia Axemen will travel to Huskies stadium to face the Saint Mary's Huskies in a 7:00pm start. The following night in Antigonish, the StFX M-Men will host the Mount Allison Mounties, also at 7:00pm.

Week 2 will once again see the AUS squads take on their counterparts from the RSEQ in interlock play.

This year's interlock match-ups will all take place on September 14 and have the Acadia Axemen hosting the reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval Rouge et Or, while the Mount Allison Mounties will welcome the McGill Redmen to MacAulay Field in Sackville, N.B. The StFX X-Men and Saint Mary's Huskies travel to Concordia and Montreal, respectively.

The AUS post-season will begin on November 2, when the second place team hosts the semifinal game with the winner advancing to the 2013 Subway AUS Loney Bowl, which will be hosted November 9 by the league's first place team.

The Atlantic conference champion will then host the RSEQ champion in the Uteck Bowl on Saturday, November 16. The Uteck Bowl and Mitchell Bowl winners will advance to play each other in the 49th Vanier Cup in Quebec City on Saturday, November 23rd.

The complete 2013 Atlantic University Sport football schedule is now available at www.atlanticuniversitysport.com and is listed below.

Note: The pre-season games and television schedules will be made available in the coming months.

Week 1:
Friday, September 6 - Acadia at Saint Mary's, 7:00pm
Saturday, September 7 - Mount Allison at StFX, 7:00pm

Week 2:
Saturday, September 14 - StFX at Concordia, 1:00pm
Saturday, September 14 - Saint Mary's at Montreal, 1:00pm
Saturday, September 14 - McGill at Mount Allison, 2:00pm
Saturday, September 14 - Laval at Acadia, 2:00pm

Week 3:
Friday, September 20 - Acadia at StFX, 7:00pm
Friday, September 20 - Saint Mary's at Mount Allison, 7:00pm

Week 4:
Friday, September 27 - StFX at Saint Mary's, 7:00pm
Saturday, September 28 - Mount Allison at Acadia, 2:00pm

Week 5:
Saturday, October 5 - Acadia at Saint Mary's, 2:00pm
Saturday, October 5 - Mount Allison at StFX, 2:00pm

Week 6:
Friday, October 11 - Saint Mary's at Acadia, 7:00pm
Saturday, October 12 - StFX at Mount Allison, 2:00pm

Week 7:
Friday, October 18 - Mount Allison at Saint Mary's, 7:00pm
Saturday, October 19 - StFX at Acadia, 2:00pm

Week 8:
Saturday, October 26 - Acadia at Mount Allison, 2:00pm
Saturday, October 26 - Saint Mary's at StFX, 2:00pm

Week 9: AUS Semifinal
Saturday, November 2 - Third Place at Second Place, 1:00pm

Week 10: AUS Championship (Subway Loney Bowl)
Saturday, November 9 - Semifinal Winner at First Place, 1:00pm

Week 11: Uteck Bowl (Location TBD)
Saturday, November 16 - RSEQ Champion at AUS Champion, TBA

Week 12: Vanier Cup (Quebec City, Que.)
Saturday, November 23 – Mitchell Bowl Winner vs. Uteck Bowl Winner, TBA