Navy Announces 2006 Football Schedule; New Season Tickets Go On Sale Friday

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-The Navy football team will face a challenging schedule in 2006 with three bowl participants and six teams from BCS conferences highlighting the slate. The Mids return 18 starters off last year's squad that went 8-4, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for a third-straight year and defeated Colorado State, 51-30, to win the Poinsettia Bowl.

Navy's Oct. 28 match-up against Notre Dame in Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium highlights an attractive home schedule that will also bring Conference USA Champion Tulsa (Sept. 23) and Insight Bowl participant Rutgers (Oct. 14) to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

"This will be the most challenging and entertaining schedule we have faced recently," said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. "The pageantry of college football at its finest in one of the most impressive venues in the nation makes for a very special Fall day in Annapolis. We look forward to welcoming our fans back and expect our attendance in 2006 will surpass the record numbers we realized last season."

"This is a very challenging schedule with a cross-section of teams that has a national appeal to it," said Navy head coach Paul Johnson. "Our football team has appreciated the support our loyal fans have given us in making Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium a tough place to play and we look forward to another exciting football season in 2006."

Navy will open up the 2006 campaign with back-to-back home games against East Carolina (Sept. 2) and Massachusetts (Sept. 9). East Carolina finished 5-6 a year ago, including a narrow 20-15 loss to eventual Sugar Bowl Champion, West Virginia.

After a Sept. 16 visit to Stanford, where Navy will be looking to avenge last year's 41-38 loss at the hands of the Cardinal, the Mids return home to take on the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa (Sept. 23). Tulsa finished 9-4 last year, including a 31-24 upset of Fresno State in the Liberty Bowl.

Navy will then hit the road for two games with tough contests at Connecticut (Sept. 30) and Air Force (Oct. 7). The Air Force game will be the first leg of the round robin between Army, Navy and Air Force to determine the winner of the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.

The Mids return home on Oct. 14 to face Rutgers in Navy's Homecoming game. The Scarlet Knights finished 7-5 a year ago, including a 45-40 loss to Arizona State in the Insight.Com Bowl.

After an off-week, Notre Dame will come calling to Baltimore as the two teams renew the longest intersectional rivalry in the country. The Irish are expected to be a top-10 team in 2006, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Brady Quinn.

After games at Duke (Nov. 4) and Eastern Michigan (Nov. 11), the Mids return home to play host to Temple (Nov. 18) on Senior Day. The Mids will then have two weeks to prepare for the Black Knights of Army before their Dec. 2 showdown at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.  Navy has won four-straight games against Army, outscoring the Cadets, 186-54.

Game times for all Navy home games will be set in March, while game times for the road games will be announced by the host institution. Navy has already locked in seven nationally-televised games with the East Carolina, Massachusetts, Tulsa, Rutgers and Temple games being televised by CSTV and the Notre Dame and Army games being televised by CBS.  New season tickets go on sale Friday at www.navysports.com. Season tickets cost $195, which includes all five games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and the Notre Dame game in Baltimore. Season ticket renewals for returning customers will be sent via e-mail on Friday and by mail in mid-February.

Date            Opponent            Location                                  TV

Sept. 2         East Carolina        Annapolis, Md.                           CSTV

Sept. 9          Massachusetts        Annapolis, Md.                          CSTV

Sept. 16       Stanford                Palo Alto, Calif.                         TBA

Sept. 23       Tulsa                    Annapolis, Md.                          CSTV

Sept. 30       Connecticut           East Hartford, Conn.                  TBA

Oct. 7          Air Force               Colorado Springs, Colo.            TBA

Oct. 14        Rutgers                 (Homecoming) Annapolis, Md.   CSTV

Oct. 28        Notre Dame           Baltimore, Md.                           CBS

Nov. 4         Duke                     Durham, N.C.                           TBA

Nov. 11       Eastern Michigan    Ypsilanti, Mich.                          TBA

Nov. 18       Temple                  Annapolis, Md.                          CSTV