Nicholls State University will continue competing against SEC football teams in the near future.

Nicholls State University will continue competing against SEC football teams in the near future.

The Colonels have a long history of playing Football Bowl Championship programs, but their history against SEC opponents is relatively short. Nicholls played its first SEC opponent in 2014 when it traveled to Arkansas.

Nicholls played its second SEC opponent in its 2016 season opener and nearly pulled of a historic upset losing, 26-24, to Georgia. The Colonels will continue their competition against SEC opponents when they play Texas A&M in 2017 and LSU in 2020. It will be the first time the Colonels will play both football programs.

Nicholls second-year head coach Tim Rebowe said having a game in Baton Rouge is huge for his program.

“We’ve never been to Baton Rouge and some of the other (Football Championship Subdivision) teams in our state have played there,” Rebowe said. “I know Southeastern (Louisiana) will get to go there, we will get to go there and it is big for us. It is good for the whole state when you can get a game between Nicholls and LSU.”

Nicholls will also play at Tulane in 2018 and that will be the first-ever meeting between the two football programs.

“(Nicholls and Tulane) have played each other in basketball and baseball but never in football,” Rebowe said. “Also with it being so close to (Thibodaux), it will help us with our fans getting them into New Orleans. It is good exposure for us recruiting-wise. We recruit in the city and River Parishes, so it is a win-win for both of us.”

The game with Tulane was scheduled after the Green Wave had to cancel a home game with Georgia Tech due to a scheduling conflict.

Nicholls is still working on completing its 2017 schedule and looking for an opponent to play at home. Nicholls will have only four Southland Conference home games next season with five conference road games along with its road game at Texas A&M.

To get a fifth home game next season, Rebowe is trying to schedule another FCS team or find a Division II opponent to come to John L. Guidry Stadium.

“We are in the works of getting that done. We hope to announce that shortly, but we may have to move a couple of games around. We are talking with the conference in doing that to get us another home game in that spot,” Rebowe said.

Another first-ever opponent on the Colonels’ 2017 schedule is Southland Conference foe Abilene Christian. The Southland Conference makes its schedule two years in advance, and Nicholls will play Abilene Christian at home in 2017 and on the road in 2018.

The Colonels are dropping Central Arkansas from its conference slate the next two seasons.